The First Person
by Atramea
Summary: When Caleb moves from Philadelphia to LA for college, he bumps into an old friend who manages to find him a job there so that he can pay his bills. But he also meets a beautiful coworker who's just about to turn his life upside-down. [Haleb; AU; Multichap]
1. Chapter 1

"You know, you could have told me sooner you were staying here in LA. That way, I would have offered you this job so much earlier." Jason told Caleb as the two made their way to The Brew, Jason's bar.

"I know, man. I just didn't know you were here either, nor that you owned a bar." Caleb replied.

"Whatever. I'm sure you'll like the guys, though. I mean, boys _and_ girls."

Caleb rolled his eyes.

"Jason, I don't need to get laid. I have a girlfriend, remember? I just need some money to pay for the college rents and for my apartment." he stated then.

"I know, I know... But Samara is in Philly, right?"

Caleb gave him a bad look and Jason smirked before saying something else.

"C'mon, having nice colleagues is never a bad thing."

"So, let me get this straight... You own The Brew but these six guys work there and take care of the place while you're—"

"While I'm in New York. You know, I didn't want to sell the place, I'm pretty proud of the way it came out. But my life is in New York now. So... I first gave the place to Ezra, the eldest one of the six. But he basically had to start over, so... He's like the boss in there, while Spencer, Aria, Hanna, Emily and Toby are bartenders, sort of. You're gonna be a barman too, of course. And if you need something, just talk to Ezra." Jason cut him off.

"Okay, good. Thank you so much, Jase."

"No problem, man. You're an old friend, I owe you a little job in my bar."

They finally reached the bar. Caleb noticed it because he saw the sign which said 'The Brew' upon a large glass door. However, he was surprised to see a Starbucks right in front of it.

"Wow... Enough competition around here?" he chuckled then.

"Yeah, I know, man. But they don't serve alcohol, they're not opened 24-7 like us... _And_ they don't play good live music either." Jason muttered as the pair finally reached the entrance of the bar.

There were a few people inside since it was rather early, sitting at the tables with their coffees. Two girls were standing at the main counter, a blonde and a brunette. They looked like they were having a small talk, laughing while cleaning up some glasses and mugs.

"Morning, girls!" Jason shouted, causing the two girls to raise their heads immediately.

"Jase!" they shouted back simultaneously, smiling largely before running to him to hug him.

Caleb watched the scene, studying the two girls as they came closer. The brunette was very tall and had very smooth long hair as well, her legs were incredibly long and she had some Oriental features and caramel skin. The blonde wasn't that tall, her hair were a little shorter than the brunette's, her skin was creamy and, Caleb noticed, she had an impressive pair of crystal blue eyes. Jason hugged them before finally turning to Caleb, along with the girls.

"So... Remember when I told you that soon you would have a new colleague in there? Well, here he is. This is Caleb Rivers, an old friend of mine. Caleb, these are Emily Fields and Hanna Marin, two of the six fantastic guys of The Brew." Jason introduced.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Emily." the brunette smiled to Caleb, holding her hand out.

Caleb shook it and smiled back.

"Likewise." he said then.

As soon as he released Emily's hand, the blonde took his one in hers and leaned forward, quickly kissing both of his cheeks.

"And I'm Hanna, welcome to The Brew, Caleb!" she smiled then, still holding his hand.

He stilled for a second, caught off guard by the blonde girl's warm greeting. She had a sweet vanilla perfume, most likely of some expensive brand. He had also time to have a better look of her eyes, and of her face as well. She definitely was a beautiful girl.

"I'm Caleb." he managed to say then, and Hanna laughed.

"I know, Jason just introduced you!" she added then as some adorable dimples appeared on her heart-shaped face.

"Oh, right." Caleb muttered, blushing slightly as he finally let go of her hand.

"Well... Ezra must be in the back, but Toby, Spencer and Aria are not working this morning. You will have time to meet them later, Caleb." Jason said then.

"So, Caleb... Where are you from?" Hanna asked curiously.

"Oh, I... I'm from Philadelphia, but I live here now because I'm studying Computer Engineering at the UCLA. I actually need some money to pay for everything, that's why I'm here now." Caleb replied.

"Got it. You know, my dad was born and raised in Philly too, but I've never actually been there." Hanna continued.

"I see... So how's living here in LA?"

"Really good. I love working here. You're gonna have a lot of fun too, I promise." Hanna smiled.

"I bet I am." Caleb murmured, studying every detail of Hanna's body with a quick look.

"How do you know each other?" Emily asked then, looking from Caleb to Jason.

Jason laughed slightly.

"Well, you'd be surprised, but I lived in Philly too when I was younger. Caleb and I met in middle school, we were inseparable. Then my parents split up, so I moved away with my mom to England and I lost contacts with Caleb. I basically traveled the world since then, ending up living between Los Angeles and New York. Two weeks ago, though, we ran into each other here in LA. Crazy... We went for coffee and Caleb told me he's studying here and has an apartment, and also that he was looking for a job. And besides the fact that we could totally use some help in here, I couldn't just ignore that." he replied then, eventually patting Caleb's shoulder.

"I will always be grateful to him." Caleb grinned.

"So you're living here on your own?" Hanna asked.

"Yeah, since a few months. I like being independent. But of course you need some money to have your own place." Caleb shrugged.

"I know what you mean. I live with her, though. But I'm actually planning to buy a place for myself." Hanna continued, pointing to Emily.

"Whatever." the brunette girl rolled her eyes.

The four laughed, then Jason hooked an arm around Caleb's shoulder.

"C'mon, I'll take you to Ezra, so we can arrange a draft of contract for you. I want you to start working here as soon as possible." he told him then.

"Alright." Caleb replied.

"But stop here when you finish. Try a coffee, at least... It's on the house, obviously." Hanna smiled.

"Sure, thanks." Caleb smiled back, as Jason dragged him to the back room of the bar where Ezra was usually dealing with the burocratic stuff of the place.

"He seems nice." Hanna commented as she watched him disappear behind the back door.

"Yeah, he does." Emily replied.

* * *

Finally, Caleb met Ezra Fitz. He was clearly older, but he was still young. With Jason's supervision, he managed to make him a contract so that he could start from the following week. Jason had to go away as soon as they finished setting the details, though, saying that he had an urgency. Caleb decided to stay for coffee like Hanna had told him, so he stopped at the counter, where Hanna was alone, playing with her iPhone. Only a few people were inside by then. She hadn't noticed he had come back, so he made his presence known.

"Hey. Where's Emily?"

Hanna lifted her gaze from the phone, then she shoved it back in her purse as she replied.

"Hey, uh, sorry, I didn't notice you were back. She's just outside here, on the phone. She's most likely fighting with Ben, her boyfriend, as she always does."

Caleb chuckled as he watched her preparing him a coffee.

"Can you add some milk, please?" he asked.

"Sure. So... How did it go with Fitz?"

"You mean Ezra?"

"Yeah. We're used to refer to him with his last name for some unknown reason, sorry."

"No problem. It went good, I guess. I should start next week."

"Good. And will you be able to attend your classes if you have to work?"

"Well, I asked Ezra if I can have night shifts during the week, so it won't be a problem. On Saturdays, instead, I can work also during the day."

"Smart." Hanna grinned as she placed his coffee on the counter, in front of him.

"Thanks." he smiled as he took the first sip.

Hanna stayed silent for a second, like she was studying something, before speaking again.

"You know, this could totally sound random, but... I really like the sound of your voice."

Caleb put the cup back on the counter before replying.

"You do?"

"Yep. Sorry, I just...say whatever crosses my mind, I hope you don't mind."

"No, it's fine. Well... Thank you. To be honest, I've been trying to get into the music business for a few years."

"Wow... I would like to listen to you sometimes. Something tells me that you're good."

"Well... Thanks for the trust." Caleb grinned.

She smiled back for a moment before asking something.

"Do you also play some instrument?"

"The guitar, a little."

"Awesome. Me too, actually. But I'm an amateur."

Caleb finished his coffee and looked back at her.

"I'd like to listen to you too. I mean, if a girl like you can play as good as she makes coffee, well, I really don't see what could be missing in her." he said then.

Hanna furrowed an eyebrow, smiling.

"It's on the coffee maker. Anyway, a girl like me... How?" she asked.

"Well... Coffee was great, I wasn't kidding. Anyway, you seem really nice, kind, and... Beautiful, obviously." he replied, smiling back.

"Thank you. Now you seem the kind one here..." she smiled as she started washing his empty mug in the sink behind the counter.

"You're welcome. I say what crosses my mind too, you know." he continued, shrugging.

Hanna just smiled again, probably not knowing what else to say. Caleb, however, keep staring at her, almost eating her with his eyes. He had always loved blonde girls. It wasn't a case his girlfriend was blonde, indeed. She suddenly looked up at him and quirked an eyebrow seeing the way he was looking at her. She bursted into a small awkward laugh, lowering her head and covering part of her face with a hand. Only then, Caleb understood he had made her feel self-conscious. Anyway, just then Emily came back inside, snorting as she shoved her phone back in her purse.

"That asshole." she muttered as she went behind the counter, next to Hanna.

"Problems?" Caleb asked, furrowing an eyebrow.

"No, sorry. It's just my boyfriend, don't worry. So... Have you officially become part of our group?" Emily asked him.

"Yeah. Seems that starting from next week, I'll be all yours." Caleb grinned at her.

"Awesome! You're gonna like it." Emily smiled back.

"We'll see." Caleb replied, moving his gaze to Hanna.

And something was telling him that Emily was right.

* * *

 **A/N: Aaaand my new story's finally here! :) So, let me start with a few things... 1. This first chapter is short and it happened basically nothing, I know, but it's just the beginning and it had to start like this. I have a lot planned for this story and I hope that you'll like it... Just give it some time to develop ;) 2. Caleb is currently dating Samara, yeah, but I promise it won't affect anything for Haleb and it —** ** _probably_** **— won't last long either :P 3. Emily is Hanna's roommate and she's straight, at least for now. 4. Spencer won't be a problem either, no worries, you know there's no way I would do anything like what the writers did in the show last winter. 5. Jason would actually be a pretty funny character here, I needed a friend for Caleb who was also friend to Hanna and I couldn't choose Ezra or Toby because they already have their role in the fic, so I thought about him. 6. There's no A in this story. 7. There will be brief mentions of other ships like Spoby and Ezria. 8. I will make some Tyshley references throughout the chapters, have fun finding them :) So... At first, I'll stay focused on Caleb and his life inside and outside The Brew, so you'll meet his friends from college, you'll find out more about Samara and everything, but then, at some point, I'll also start showing what Hanna's life is like. Just be patient ;) Next chapter will be longer and you'll see a lot of Haleb :) Well, I hope it all sounded quite intriguing and I really, really hope you're gonna like this one because, once again, I'm trying to write something different from my other fics. I can't wait to know your first impressions, so let me know :) And I also want to take the chance to say thank you to each one of you because once again I'm writing a story and once again, if you're reading this, you're with me in this ride, so... Enjoy it and let me know what you think! Love you guys! xx -Atramea.**


	2. Chapter 2

"Yeah, I told you, Jason gave me the job." Caleb mumbled through the speaker of his iPhone as he got ready for his first day —night— of work at The Brew.

"So you're all young guys?" Samara, his girlfriend, asked him.

"Yep. They're all pretty much my same age. So far I only met three of them, though."

"Who are you working with tonight?"

"Hanna." he replied, a small smile spontaneously appearing on his face.

Now that the bartenders were an even number, Jason and Ezra had decided to divide them in pairs, so that they would always work with the same partner, each couple working eight hours a day. And Hanna was Caleb's work partner. She had said that she was fine doing the night shifts, so she didn't have to see Emily's boyfriend, Ben, all night in her house, since she and Emily lived together. Hanna just couldn't stand him, apparently. Always having him there in her house, letting her be the third wheel, was seriously bothering her.

"You already met her, right?" Samara asked.

"Right. She's a nice girl. Well, I gotta go now. I'll call you in the morning when I'm back home."

"Will you have time to sleep before going to class?"

"Not really. But I'll manage to keep my eyes open, don't worry. Talk to you later. Love you."

"Love you too. Good luck."

"Thanks. Goodnight." Caleb mumbled before hanging up.

He looked at his reflection in the mirror. He was wearing a dark leather jacket, a white shirt, well-ironed, his favorite pair of jeans and a pair of white Stan Smiths. His hair were perfectly fixed, and he had sprayed all over his neck his Calvin Klein's cologne after a needed hot shower. He wasn't feeling nervous, but he wanted everything to go well. He took his car and drove to The Brew, perfectly on time. He took a moment to fix his hair better looking at the rearview mirror before finally hopping out of his car. He stepped into the bar, noticing it was pretty full of people. He then noticed a guy and a girl behind the counter, who he hadn't met yet.

"Are you Caleb?" the guy asked as Caleb approached them.

"Yeah." he smiled, holding his hand out for them.

The guy shook it first.

"Welcome on board, dude. I'm Toby." he said.

"Nice to meet you." Caleb replied.

"And I'm Spencer." the girl introduced herself, shaking Caleb's hand too.

"Nice to meet you." Caleb repeated.

"Night shift, huh? What a way to start." Toby commented then.

Caleb shrugged.

"It's fine, I'm lucky I got the job. Hanna's not here yet?" he asked then.

"Hanna and 'late' are like the same word in English." Spencer joked, giving a beer to a guy who had come up to the counter.

Caleb chuckled as he took his jacket off and put on his brand new work apron.

"However, she's a good girl." Toby continued.

"Who's a good girl?" Hanna began, walking to the counter.

"You are. But you're also late." Spencer rolled her eyes.

"And you're _so_ boring. Hi, everyone." Hanna smiled, kissing Spencer, Toby and then Caleb on the cheek.

She was wearing a dark green top and a pair of dark jeans which didn't leave too much to the imagination. Her cleavage was pretty deep, and she was wearing boots with heels. Caleb smiled softly at her and inhaled her perfume, the same of the day he had met her, it was very good. He also couldn't help but think about how good she looked. Her eyes, her body, her smell... Everything about her almost made his head spin.

"So... I hope you guys will have fun." Spencer mumbled as she took off her apron.

"Me too." Toby added, taking off his apron as well.

"Thanks." Hanna grinned, putting on her own apron like a pro.

"Good luck, bro." Toby smiled at Caleb, giving him his fist.

Caleb bumped it and smiled gratefully at him, as Spencer waved at him and Hanna.

"So, Caleb... How are you doing?" Hanna asked him then.

"Fine, thanks. You?"

"Always good." she grinned.

Caleb chuckled, then looked over at the tables.

"So... Should I go check if they want something?" he asked then.

"No, don't worry. They raise their hands if they need something, or just come over here to order a drink." Hanna shrugged, leaning forward over the counter.

"Okay."

"Nervous?"

"No, I'm okay. I just don't want to cause any trouble...at least not on my first day." he chuckled.

"Oh, c'mon. I'm sure you won't. You want some chips? We're allowed to steal." she replied, handing him a small dish with some chips which was kept on one of the shelves under the counter.

"No. I'm fine, thanks."

"Sure? Don't tell me you're one of those guys obsessed with shape, diet and shit..." she teased.

"No, believe me. It's just that I already ate home and I'm fine right now. What about you? Don't you eat?"

"I already ate home too, besides I'd better not put any pounds on."

"Oh, so you're the one obsessed with shape, diet and shit." Caleb smirked.

Hanna smirked back, not replying.

"Hanna... You have nothing to worry about, trust me." he added then.

She made another smile, then a guy sitting at one of the tables raised his hand and looked over at them.

"Alright... Let's get this started." Caleb commented then, before walking to his first official customer.

* * *

At the end of the night, when the sun started rising, Caleb could only describe his first day of work as... _fun_. Actually, it was Hanna who was funny. He wasn't actually sure whether her nice and funny attitude was just to make a good impression on him or it was her true self, the only thing he knew for sure was that she was extremely beautiful, and he couldn't help but lose himself into her eyes every once in a while.

At some point throughout the night, he had accidentally poured some beer off a glass, so it had fallen on the counter and he had gotten totally mortified, but she had just laughed it off, telling him how many times she had done the same. She had told him that he worried too much and that he was cute because of that. Caleb had just smiled at her, not really knowing what to say.

When the shift was over and Aria and Emily came to the Brew to take over for them and start their own shift, Hanna introduced Aria to him, a short brunette with green eyes. After that, Caleb approached Hanna after taking his apron off.

"Well, then... I guess I'll see you tomorrow." he told her as he put his jacket on.

"Sure, see you tomorrow." she replied, smiling.

"By the way... Thank you, Hanna." he added, scratching his head.

"For what?"

"I felt comfortable working with you, and it was my first day. It was... Nice. I think I owe you a 'thanks' for that."

"Anytime. The fact that you're new doesn't make you the black sheep of the group. Plus, you did good. I'm sure we'll have good times together, Philly boy!" she grinned, winking at him.

"Yeah, I'm sure about that too."

Hanna then, leaned forward and quickly kissed both of his cheeks.

"Bye, Caleb." she concluded.

"Bye, Hanna." he replied as he walked to the exit.

* * *

As Caleb approached his car to go home, he noticed that the Starbucks in front of the bar was already open. He knew Jason would hate him for doing that, but he really wanted a frappuccino and a doughnut after his night shift. And of course The Brew didn't provide Starbucks frappuccinos. He didn't resist and walked to the entrance. It was a rather small place, most likely not one of the main Starbucks points of LA, but Caleb was only looking for an extra-sugar Vanilla Bean Crème Frappuccino and a cream doughnut. He was also tempted by the white chocolate cupcakes, but he eventually chose his first alternative.

He stayed waiting for his order, his elbows resting on the counter and his eyes staring at the clock indicating ten past eight in the morning. He sighed, watching as the guy behind the counter carefully made his frappuccino, while the small bell of the door rang, followed by the noise of the door closing. A wave of sweet woman perfume suddenly intoxicated Caleb. _That_ perfume. And then _that_ voice.

"Morning!"

 _Hanna_.

Caleb turned around and saw right her, Hanna, but he didn't see him back. She was alone. Caleb turned back around as Hanna sat on the barstool next to his, but then he turned once again to her.

"You can't resist without me, Hanna?" he began, smirking at her.

"Caleb?" she said, surprised.

"The one and only."

"What are you doing here?" Hanna smiled.

"I want a frappuccino and a doughnut. What about you?"

"I want a frappuccino too. Just don't tell Jason." she chuckled.

"I really won't, I'm here too. But... Seems like we meet each other very often lately." he joked.

Hanna smiled and shook her head, then she told her order to the guy behind the counter.

"Uhm, Mocha Frappuccino with brownies, not bad." Caleb commented.

"I have a great taste, what did you think?"

"I knew it, but... I thought you cared about shape, diet and shit!"

Hanna laughed loudly. It was the first time that Caleb made her laugh like that, and when she did, his heart got filled. He thought that she looked even more beautiful when she was laughing. As he was lost into those thoughts, his order was brought to him, which Hanna almost ate with her eyes, so he pushed his paper tray toward her.

"Here." he smiled.

"Oh no, don't worry. My frappuccino is on its way." she replied.

"Yeah, but mine is a vanilla one, and I also have a nice doughnut with that, which is way too big not to be shared with someone." he said, widening his smile.

Only God knew how much Caleb wanted to devour that doughnut and dry out that cup of frappuccino, all for himself, but he was suddenly happy to offer them to Hanna. He barely knew her, sure, she was beautiful, but he didn't fully know the person she truly was. Nevertheless, he had soon found a chemistry with her, and he had learnt probably too early to lose himself halfway through her eyes and her smile.

"C'mon, don't make me beg... My idea for today is to screw the shape." he added then.

"Alright, thank you." she replied a few seconds later, smiling.

She stretched her hand toward his tray and Caleb noticed she had a very cured hand: a perfect manicure, a nice dark blue nail polish, long thin fingers. Her hand flew into a small tight wrist, which had an adorable shape and it was circled by a black elastic band. Her skin was pale and looked soft and smooth. He almost had to hold himself back from touching that hand.

Hanna wrapped her hand around the paper cup and grabbed the straw between her lips, dragging the frappuccino from it. Caleb watched all of her movements: the pressure her hands made around the cup, the way her cheeks dig themselves to make the fluid go upwards, her eyes unfocused, the position of her elbows against the counter. She looked perfect. He wanted to photograph her right then, but he simply smiled.

"Uhm, not bad. I hadn't tried a vanilla one before, indeed." she said then, pulling away from the straw.

"I have a great taste too, you know..." he replied as he raised his eyebrows, smiling.

She smiled back and gave the cup back to him.

"Doughnut?" he asked then, nodding toward it.

Hanna tilted her head from side to side as she was considering the offer, then she grabbed the doughnut and took a bite of it.

"Very good." she said then, placing it back on the tray.

"You can eat it all, if you want." he smiled at her.

"Thanks, but... You said it, it's too big to not be shared!"

"Okay."

Hanna handed him back the doughnut, so he grabbed it and took a bite of it as well. Then, her frappuccino was finally brought. She didn't waste a second to push it toward Caleb, who smiled.

"Don't worry, it's all yours." he added then.

"C'mon, Caleb... How can you say no to brownies?" she replied with decision.

"Well then... Thanks."

Caleb took the straw between his lips and tasted a little of that sweet frappuccino.

"Wow, divine... It would be worth it to take a few pounds for this, indeed." he commented then.

Hanna smiled and took the cup which he had handed back to her.

They finished eating talking about how many Starbucks they had visited. Hanna told Caleb she had been in several ones all around the world, saying that she loved travelling, but that she always kept making that order, Mocha Frappuccino with brownies. She also told him that she collected every single cup of her Starbucks breaks, that it was kind of her addiction. And even though they had both finished eating everything, they were still sitting there and talking, while people kept entering and exiting the bar. At some point, the radio of the place start playing _I don't wanna miss a thing_ by Aerosmith, and Caleb spontaneously started softly singing as he played with his empty cup. And when he lifted his gaze for a moment, he found Hanna staring at him.

"What?" he asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

"You're really good. And you do have an amazing voice, I wasn't wrong." she smiled at him.

"Oh c'mon, you're overrating me... You're gonna make me blush." he mumbled awkwardly.

"You? Blush?" she laughed.

"It can happen, sometimes." he shrugged, scratching his head.

And he was pretty sure she had already made him blush once.

There was an awkward moment between the two, but it was soon broken by the barista coming for the cheque. Hanna was about to take her wallet, trying to find it in her apparently endless purse, but Caleb had already a bill in his hand, ready to pay for both of them, obviously.

"I pay for both." he told the barista, handing him the bill.

"What? Caleb, no, please!" Hanna said, still struggling to find her wallet.

The barista smiled and gave Caleb the change.

"It's nothing." Caleb smiled then toward Hanna.

"Thanks, but you didn't have to." she replied, finally stopping to rummage into her purse.

"Oh, I did." he smiled.

"So you're actually kind."

"I'm full of surprises." he added, winking at her.

Hanna shook her head, smiling and moving a hand to her head to put a strand of her hair off her face.

"Now I owe you." she added.

"Well then, tomorrow, when we finish at work, we'll meet here again and you'll pay."

"Deal." Hanna smiled.

Caleb smiled back satisfied, caught by her smile.

"I should go now. What about you?" she asked after a few silent seconds.

"Yeah, sure, I... I should go too. Don't you take your cup, though? You said you collect them, right?"

Hanna looked at the two cups on the counter with their names written on them and smirked.

"What?" Caleb asked then.

"Can I take the one with 'Caleb' written on it?" she bit her lip.

He laughed.

"Sure, but only if I can take the one with 'Hanna' written on it." he replied then.

"Perfect." she decided, making a smile which showed those adorable dimples of hers.

They took each other's cup and exited the Starbucks laughing. Caleb walked Hanna to her car, then she turned to him to tell him something.

"Thanks, Caleb."

"Anytime, it was just a frappuccino." he replied, running a hand through his own hair.

"I didn't mean for the frappuccino, I... I had fun. We spent more than an hour inside that Starbucks and it felt like it was only ten minutes. Thanks for that." she smiled.

A smile straight to his heart.

"I had fun too, Hanna. Thank you too." he replied.

She shook her head and smiled, then she went on her tiptoes to reach his cheek with her lips. She placed there a delicate sweet kiss, a _real_ kiss, not like all the others they had shared to greet each other. She didn't just briefly touch his skin with her lips, she actually lingered on his cheek for a few seconds, and Caleb closed his eyes at the feeling.

"See you tomorrow." she smiled when she pulled away.

"See you tomorrow." he repeated, watching her hop into her car and close the door.

He also watched the car go and waved his hand at her.

Hanna wasn't just ass and boobs. Hanna was so much more.

Caleb looked at the cup he had in his hand with her name and smiled, then he walked to his car and finally drove home.

* * *

 **A/N: Hi guys :) First of all, let me just say that I'm so happy for all the reviews you left after the first chapter! I'm glad you like the idea and I hope you're gonna enjoy the whole story ;) And since some of you guys asked...yes, the rating of this story may move to M, but for now it's safe, haha ;) So here's chapter two... What do you think? I think there are no Tyshley references in this chapter, but I'm not sure since I'm posting without re-reading the chapter because I edited it a few days ago, so... Nothing, if you find some references, feel free to let me know! But I promise, there are gonna be some soon :) Speaking of which, please vote Ashley and Tyler for #ChoiceTVChemistry of this year's Teen Choice Awards! You only have to tweet the hashtag and tag them using the at sign :) They totally deserve it, don't they? I'm out of the area where the voting is opened, so I can only vote with Twitter, but if you live in the US go vote on the TeenChoice website too ;) Alright, enough with the rant... I hope you'll let me know your thoughts about this second chapter! More Haleb is coming up in chapter 3 and you'll also meet other characters of the fic :) Thank you again for reviewing/following/favoriting, you guys are the best :) Until next time! Love you! xx -Atramea.**


	3. Chapter 3

When Caleb got back to his apartment, it was nine-twenty and he was already late for his first class of the day. He had barely time for a shower. He placed Hanna's Starbucks cup on the living room table and took a second to rub his eyes, now feeling all the tiredness getting to him after staying up working all night. Then, his doorbell rang. He sighed and walked to the door, opening only to find his bestfriend Luke, with his girlfriend Remy, and Miranda, another one of his friends. They all went to college together.

"Dude, you ready?" Luke asked.

"Honestly, no. Just give me a sec, come in." Caleb muttered in reply, making some room for his three friends to come in.

"Tired from the work night?" Remy asked Caleb as she took a seat on his small couch.

"Yeah." Caleb sighed, stretching his arms over his head.

"Why it's written 'Hanna' on that?" Luke asked, nodding toward the cup.

"Oh... Because I was with her at the Starbucks at the corner of the street. She's one of my coworkers, we had the shift together last night and then we went to eat something together at Starbucks once we were done." Caleb replied, turning to where the cup was.

The three all looked at him confused, especially Miranda, but Caleb quickly changed topic.

"I, uhm... I'm just gonna take a quick shower, then we'll go. Okay?"

"Quick, man. We're late, as always." Luke sighed as he leaned back into the couch, lazily resting his arm around Remy's shoulders.

"Quick." Caleb repeated, making his way toward the bathroom but not before grabbing the cup on his way.

Actually, before going to the bathroom, he stopped by his bedroom. He walked to his bed and kneeled on it, placing the cup on one of the shelves above the bed, next to the several others Starbucks cup with 'Caleb' written on it.

Yeah, he collected them too, exactly like Hanna. He hadn't told her because she would have probably thought it was just a lie. Caleb actually thought he was the only one doing such a thing in the whole world, instead he wasn't. He smiled at the thought that Hanna, somewhere else, was placing the cup with his name next to those with hers, exactly like he was doing right then. He looked at his cups and thought that their names together sounded good, the one next to the other.

 _Really good_.

* * *

After his classes, Caleb came back home, exhausted. He had an hour before going back to work.

To Hanna.

He took off his shoes and climbed on his bed, closing his eyes and sighing, but not before setting an alarm, just in case.

Since the day he had first met Hanna, he almost couldn't stop thinking about her. His mind had been on her even while he was at college, with his friends. He couldn't focus on his classes because he was always thinking about her. Plus, after last night, he couldn't wait to see her again. He didn't know why she had such an effect on him. After all, they had basically just met. Yeah, she was beautiful, _very_ beautiful, but it wasn't _just_ that. There was _something_ in her. Maybe it was the way she talked, the way she moved, the way she made him laugh... He didn't really know.

Sighing again, he finally gave in to sleep.

* * *

After being woken up by a loud alarm, Caleb got to The Brew smiling and with his usual cologne all over him. He had been able to get a little rest, which was still more than nothing, and he was on perfect time. Weirdly, Hanna was already there, talking with Toby and Spencer.

"Hey, Caleb!" she smiled.

"Good evening, Hanna." he replied, smiling back.

She was as beautiful as always.

"Always on time, huh?" she continued, looking at her watch for a moment.

"If I care, yeah."

Toby and Spencer left the bar and Hanna and Caleb put on their aprons.

"Did you get some rest after last night?" Hanna asked.

"Well... I had classes almost the whole day, but I managed to find an hour for myself."

"Seriously? You look okay though, like you slept for... I don't know, eight hours." she commented, slightly widening her eyes at him.

Caleb just shrugged, smiling.

"What about you? Did you get some rest?" he asked then.

"Yeah, I didn't get much either, but I feel fine."

"Well, then it was probably the frappuccino which gave us energy." he smirked then.

Hanna laughed at that. Caleb was so glad when he made her laugh.

* * *

Once again, the shift went okay. They seemed to have a lot of fun together, always laughing behind the counter after making some comments about their customers. Eight in the morning came really fast, and after Aria and Emily take them over, Hanna immediately reminded him they had something to do together.

"Hey you, don't run away. I didn't forget I owe you something." she smirked.

"Sure." he chuckled.

They got out of the bar together and crossed the street before entering the Starbucks. They took their frappuccinos, even though this time Hanna allowed herself to take a white chocolate doughnut too. But even this time, they took a bit of each other's order.

"What about my cup? Has it officially become part of your precious collection?" Caleb asked.

"Sure. What about mine, what did you do with it? I hope you didn't just throw it into the trash!" she replied, smiling.

"It's in my room, placed on a shelf." he smiled.

Hanna tilted her head to the side before replying.

"I'll come to check, one day."

"Whenever you want. You'll be welcome."

She just smiled again, then Caleb cleared his throat before continuing.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Why, after work, Hanna Marin has nothing better to do than taking a frappuccino in the smallest Starbucks of LA with the new guy from work?"

"Well... Hanna Marin is just a normal barmaid, that's why. When I had shifts with Emily, she used to come here with me, but she was always in a hurry because she needed to see Ben, plus most of the times we worked in the morning, so... You know, afternoon coffee is not the same as morning coffee. Yesterday, though, the 'new guy' kept me company. A _nice_ company, that's why today I'm here with him again." she smiled, shrugging slightly.

"I'm glad we get along this well. But, I mean... What about your boyfriend? He's not really morning-friendly so he doesn't show up after you're done at work to take a coffee with you?" Caleb asked spontaneously.

She did have a boyfriend, right? A girl that beautiful and funny couldn't be... _alone_.

She raised her eyebrows at that.

"I don't have a boyfriend." she said then.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to be nosey. I just assumed it was impossible that a girl like you was alone."

"I'm not _alone_. Not having a boyfriend doesn't mean being alone. Plus, I have my shortcomings, I'm not perfect. You don't know all of me, Caleb."

He sighed, realizing he had probably crossed a line.

"You're right, I'm sorry. I'm an idiot. I didn't mean to sound inappropriate." he added, playing with the straw of his cup.

"No, don't worry. You weren't inappropriate. But, you know, I just enjoy drinking coffee in a little bar with some nice company."

"Not as nice as mine." he smiled slightly.

Hanna laughed.

"You're a good guy, Caleb. So... What about you? Where's your girlfriend?" she asked then.

He bit his bottom lip before replying.

"Oh, she... She's in Philly, actually."

She smiled slightly, lowering her gaze for a moment. She had honestly assumed, for some reason, that he was single.

"You know, she has a job there. She couldn't follow me here." he continued.

"Can you guys cope with distance?" she asked casually, lifting her gaze.

He shrugged.

"You know, I've not been away for so long. I guess time will answer that." He said then.

Hanna was kind of surprised that he wasn't so sure that he and his girlfriend could deal with the miles between them.

"Anyway... In my opinion, you're wrong when you say that you're just a normal barmaid, because I think you're a special girl, irrespective of the job you do." he continued, moving the topic away from his girlfriend.

Hanna smiled and shook her head, then she hooked her lips around the straw of her cup to finish the frappuccino. At the corner of his eye, Caleb saw the barista approaching them for the cheque and, without second thoughts, he took a bill from his wallet, trying to hide from Hanna. As soon as the guy showed up, Hanna didn't have time to do anything besides watch Caleb give his bill to the barista.

"I pay for both." he added, exactly like the previous day.

"Hey, no! Excuse me, I'll pay!" she exclaimed to the barista.

Caleb made a face to the guy, along with a wink, tilting his head to the side, and the barista understood he had to ignore her, so he smiled and turned around.

"Caleb, you're unfair! We had a pact!" Hanna said then, slapping his hand slightly.

He smiled, looking straight into her eyes.

"You know, Hanna... I do want to know all of you. Today I paid like yesterday, so you already owe me two frappuccinos. That means that we already have two... _Starbucks_ _dates_ planned. You can't run away now, you owe me... More than you did yesterday." he said, smirking.

Hanna sighed and gave him a dead glance. But that glance didn't last so long, because it soon flew into a loud laugh. And as soon as she began laughing, he began too. She had such a wonderful and contagious laugh.

"You know, someday we should go get drunk together. But it'll be on me that day." she said then.

"Oh, who knows..." he replied smirking.

She laughed again, then got up from her barstool.

"You wanna leave already?" he asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Well... Don't you need to go to class?"

"Uhm... Yeah, but not as early as yesterday. I still have a couple of spare hours."

"You don't wanna sleep?"

"No, I'm fine. Do you?"

"No. So... Shall we go for a walk, maybe?" she smiled, nodding toward the exit.

"Why not?" he smiled back.

They left the Starbucks together and took a walk around the neighborhood, talking about work, mostly, and laughing a lot, as usual.

And Caleb knew he was definitely starting to like her.

* * *

 **A/N: Hi guys :) Soooo my exams are finally over! I'm so happy :D As always, a huge thank you for all your reviews, favorites and follows. We finally met Caleb's friends — yup, I watched Ravenswood, I thought it would be nice to bring the characters of the show in here as Caleb's friends. And keep an eye on Miranda, she has a specific role in all of this ;) To answer a question someone of you guys asked, we're gonna meet Samara very soon! In the next chapter you'll find her ;) And no, no cheating is involved in this story... Just be patient to see how things will develop :) By the way, let me just give a special thank you to silenceeverything, because she's a total genius and I was so happy to see she reviewed here. You guys should read every single Haleb story she wrote because they're absolutely wonderful— but I'm sure you already did :) So... I really like the next chapter, I can't wait for you all to read it and see the evolution of this story but, for now, let me know your thoughts so far :) Also, I actually enjoyed the s7 premiere, although the show is over with 6x10 to me, for obvious reasons. But I have to admit that I finally saw at least a bit of the Caleb Rivers I know in this premiere, who puts Hanna before anything and anyone no matter what, who had been totally absent throughout the whole 6b. And as funny as it sounds, my favorite scene of this premiere was the Spanna scene in Hanna's dream. Simply beautiful. Too bad the authors have messed up their friendship with their awful ideas last winter... Ugh. Anyway, Ash and Troian's acting really moved me, they're truly amazing. Oookay, that's it :) Leave a comment if you want, I always read them all and they make me all happy :) Thank you again everyone, have a nice day :) Love you! xx -Atramea.**


	4. Chapter 4

The rest of the week went by rather quickly. Caleb and Hanna always went for frappuccino after work, and they were beginning to know each other better day by day.

On Saturday, since Caleb didn't have classes in the weekend, he worked in the afternoon with Toby, from four to midnight. There had been a small change of shifts for that day, and Hanna would work with Emily when he and Toby would be done. Anyway, Toby was a nice guy, and Caleb found himself comfortable around him too.

"So... How are things going? You're okay here or you think we're all crazy?" Toby asked at some point as they washed some mugs.

"Dude, if you guys are crazy, I should be in a nuthouse. I'm doing really good, thanks for asking." Caleb replied, smiling.

"I'm glad. You know, I was hired later than anyone here, and... And this is one of my first jobs, so I was kind of nervous about it. I thought I wouldn't have been able to settle in and that I would have lost this chance. But it went okay, eventually."

"Have you bonded with anyone during your first days? I mean, maybe someone who helped you settle in..."

"Hanna, more than anyone." Toby replied immediately.

Caleb nodded shortly, silent.

"She's the most friendly of us. Not that we're all assholes, but she just loves being with people, you know. What about you, have you bonded with anyone in particular? I mean, besides me." Toby continued, grinning.

"With Hanna. Evidently, she's nice with everyone at the beginning." Caleb replied, with a slight tip of disappointment in his voice.

Toby shook his head lightly before replying.

"Hanna just wants to be kind. Plus, she's just like you see her, she's not a pretender. If she told you something nice, it's because she really thinks that. Believe me, if she couldn't stand you, she would've already stopped being nice to you."

Caleb nodded as he wiped his hands on his apron.

"What did she do with you to make you settle in during your first days?" he asked Toby then.

"Well, pretty much what I'm doing with you right now. Small talks during the quiet moments, you know, nothing big, but... It helped me."

"So... Have you two ever...gone out together?"

"What? No! Sometimes we went to some discos, you know, but we were all together, I mean, us from the bar... That's something we do quiet often when the bar is closed, but always all together." Toby replied.

Caleb nodded, then Toby furrowed his eyebrows.

"Man, are you thinking about asking her out?" he asked then.

"No." Caleb chuckled awkwardly.

"Well... Last time I checked, she wasn't dating anyone. Are you sure you don't wanna give a shot?"

Caleb just rolled his eyes.

"C'mon, dude, I saw the way you look at her. I'm not stupid." Toby smirked, raising his eyebrows slightly.

"Well, okay, she's gorgeous. That's why I look at her like that. But it's not like I have a crush or something." Caleb replied quickly, shrugging, not completely sure if he was being honest.

"Yeah, maybe not yet. Anyway, in my opinion, if you ask her out, you would actually have some chances."

"Uh... And what does make you think that?"

"Oh, you know, I saw the way she looks at you as well." Toby slightly rolled his eyes, laughing with himself.

"What... What do you mean?" Caleb was genuinely intrigued by then.

"Well... She's always smiley and everything, yeah, but when she sees you, she seems doing that even more. And... I might've also overheard some conversation between the girls about you. Hanna has always good words for you." Toby shrugged.

Caleb shook his head quickly and took a deep breath before replying.

"Well, actually... Hanna and I already went for coffee together. But just a couple of times."

"You seriously went out with her?" Toby raised his eyebrows.

"Well, the first time we just kind of ran into each other at the Starbucks around the corner of the street, after work. Oh, speaking of which... Please, don't tell Jason that his bartenders go for coffee at the rival bar. Anyway... I bought her a frappuccino and then we just talked, for hours. Then I kind of told her that she owed me, so she would have to buy me something to Starbucks the next day. That's how we saw each other again, the following day, after work. But I paid that time too, so... You know, now it has become kind of a habit to spend some extra time together after work. I always manage to pay before she has even the chance to find her wallet."

"Sounds nice. You guys seem to have grown pretty close to each other, despite it's just your first week." Toby smiled.

"Nothing happened, we just had something to drink together after work." Caleb shrugged.

"Yeah, but... Look, throughout these months, I learned how Hanna is, I think. She's friendly with everyone, sure, but... I mean, it's not like she goes for coffee if she doesn't really appreciate the company, especially if she has already spent her last eight hours with that same company."

Caleb smiled at him and nodded.

"Anyway, dude... I would appreciate if this conversation stays between you and me. I mean, the girls are great and everything, but—" he started then, but Toby patted his shoulder and gave him a wink, cutting him off.

"I got it. No worries, man. And, to be completely honest, I often stop by that Starbucks too. We're all guilty, but neither Jason nor Ezra will ever know, don't worry."

Caleb laughed slightly, but then a sudden thought crossed his mind, so he just told Toby.

"Speaking of 'I see the way you look at her'... What about you and Spencer?"

Toby's face suddenly became flushed as he turned to Caleb with a shocked look on his face.

"What?" he asked in a whisper.

Caleb laughed again.

"Man, I'm not stupid either." he added then.

"Uhm... S-She has a boyfriend." Toby mumbled awkwardly.

"But you like her."

The blonde guy sighed and scratched the back of his neck.

"It's complicated. She's in a really serious relationship, she's been with her boyfriend for several years." he murmured then.

Caleb gave him a sad smile and patted his shoulder.

"Well... Never say never." he told him then, before turning to the shelves to take a bottle of gin to make some drinks.

* * *

Around half past nine, Caleb was surprised to see Hanna entering the bar, despite she and Emily would take over for him and Toby only at midnight. She rushed to the counter and kissed Caleb's cheek with a big smile on her face before doing the same with Toby.

"What are you doing here already?" Caleb asked smiling, leaning forward over the counter as Toby walked away to answer a phone call.

"Well, it's Saturday. There's always some good live music at ten on Saturdays. I like coming to watch that, whatever shift I have. Jason probably forgot to tell you." she explained as she took a seat on a barstool.

"Oh... Nice. Where's Emily?"

Hanna slightly rolled her eyes.

"Enjoying her last couple of free hours with that idiot of her boyfriend in what's supposed to be my apartment too before getting her ass to work." she muttered then as Caleb let out a short amused laugh.

"Alright... So, what do I get you, miss?" he asked then, smirking.

"Oh, don't worry, you don't need to." she replied, smiling.

"C'mon, it doesn't happen often that I'm working while you're not... You should take advantage of that." he grinned.

She laughed slightly as she finally decided she could actually enjoy something to drink.

"A beer would be good."

Caleb nodded before bending down to pick a jar of beer from one of the shelves under the counter.

"Shit." Toby muttered, walking back to the counter after the phone call.

"What's up?" Caleb asked, looking up at him.

"It was Ezra. The dude who was coming to play tonight had a small car accident. He's okay, but... He called Ezra and told him he's in hospital to get checked, so... He can't come." Toby sighed.

"What? Are you serious? There's a bunch of people here and they're all waiting for tonight's live music!" Hanna exclaimed, widening her eyes.

"I can see that, Han, but I'm afraid we just have to tell them that tonight's show is cancelled." Toby shrugged, biting his lip.

Caleb pulled the jar full of beer toward Hanna, who thanked him.

"We're gonna lose all the customers...and their money." he pointed out then.

"Well, it's not our fault. Jason will understand." Toby commented.

"Yeah, he sure will, but... I don't know, it just feels wrong. I mean, from what you guys said, tonight's live music is a pretty good thing for this bar. Cancelling it, just do that, well, I think people will get kind of mad. They will just go somewhere else." Caleb continued.

"Well, dude, doesn't look like we have much of a choice here." Toby replied.

Caleb licked and then pursed his lips, looking around the bar full of people and then focusing on the small platform at the bottom of the room. He took a deep breath and turned to Toby.

"Is there a chance that you guys have a guitar somewhere here?" he asked then, biting his lower lip.

Toby furrowed his eyebrows.

"Yeah, I think there's one in Ezra's office, in the back. Why?" he replied then, slightly confused.

Caleb took a deep breath and wiped his hands on his apron.

"Hanna, will you please cover my shift for a little while?" he asked then, smiling toward her.

"What do you have in mind, Philly boy?" she smirked, even though she had an idea.

"I'm saving the night... You'll be surprised." Caleb replied, grinning and raising his eyebrows as he took his apron off.

Toby watched confused as Caleb walked to the back, and Hanna smirked as she put her own apron on.

"What is he up to?" he asked her.

"Let's see." she shrugged, grinning.

* * *

Minutes later, Caleb was making his way to the platform with a guitar. Actually, it wasn't his very first live performance, but the thought of Hanna watching him kind of made him feel nervous. As he stepped on the platform, he crossed her gaze and she smiled at him.

Caleb tried to stay calm as he approached the microphone and greeted everyone, as the people started clapping their hands from their seats. He didn't even bothered himself to explain that the guy who was supposed to perform that night wasn't him, he just focused on what he was doing. He played many different songs by many different artist. An hour and half later, at midnight, Toby signaled him he could stop there, so Caleb concluded his last song and said thanks to the clapping crowd. He caught sight of Hanna behind the counter who was clapping her hands loudly and smiling widely at him, with her bottom lip caught between her teeth. He smiled back at her, then he left the platform and quickly made his way back over to the counter.

When he finally got there, he was about to ask Hanna what she thought about his performance, but he couldn't because, before he could say anything, she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. He felt slightly caught off guard by that warm hug and he stayed still for a second, but then he returned her hug.

That was their first hug.

"You were amazing..." she murmured then, slowly pulling away from his body.

Caleb smiled awkwardly.

"Thanks, I... I just thought I could help, then I also thought that you would appreciate to listen to me, or at least that was what you told me when we first met, I... I hope it wasn't stupid of me." he mumbled then.

"Not at all, Caleb. I liked the surprise."

"I'm glad you did." he smiled.

"God, you totally saved us... But I shouldn't have expected anything else from you. I only used a few days to understand how nice of a person you are and tonight didn't prove me wrong at all. I like you, Caleb." she smiled back.

Those words made Caleb's head spin. It was clear they were sincere and spontaneous words which didn't have to be misunderstood, however he just felt really happy to hear them.

"Wow, thank you. And, just for the record... I like you too." he replied then, smiling, and he meant every word.

She smiled again, but before she could have the chance to reply, Emily, who had gotten there a few minutes earlier, came up to compliment him, along with Toby.

Yeah, Caleb had definitely saved the night.

* * *

"Let me cover two of your work hours." Caleb said as he sat on a barstool in front of Hanna, an hour or so later.

She laughed as she poured some tequila into five shot glasses.

"Don't even think about it." she replied then, handing Emily the tray with the full glasses so she could bring them to the table which had ordered them.

"Please, just let me do that. You worked while I was playing up there."

"Well, that was work too. You basically saved our asses. Plus, I was already here doing nothing, so..."

"Oh, c'mon..." he was almost begging.

"No. Besides, what are you still doing here? It's one am. You should go get some rest or... I don't know, study, maybe?" she laughed.

Caleb rolled his eyes.

"Shit, don't remind me." he sighed then, running a hand through his short locks.

"See? You need to get home, Philly boy."

"Oh, so you just want to get rid of me... You don't want me around you." he teased, raising an eyebrow.

She stopped whatever she was doing to eye him.

"You know it's not like that." she said then.

He pursed his lips to contain a grin as he studied her expression. His phone ringing from his pocket, though, broke the moment.

"Sorry." he muttered as he reached out for his jeans to pull his phone out, then picked up. "Hello?"

"Caleb, hey." Samara's voice replied.

Caleb sighed and made a small smile toward Hanna before walking outside of the bar to talk with his girlfriend.

"Hey, hi."

"Hi... So, you said you would have called me when your shift was over, but... I think that was like an hour ago."

"Oh, yeah, uhm... I'm sorry. I just... I just got distracted. There were a few things to sort out at the bar, that's it."

He could hear Samara sigh deeply from the other side and he bit his lip.

"Caleb... What's going on?" she asked then.

"What do you mean?" he asked back, taking a seat on the sidewalk.

"I mean that ever since you started this job, I feel like you're using your whole time and energy in it. I spoke with Remy and Miranda too, they said you're kind of neglecting college too, and that's not a good thing. You even forget to call me afterwards... And we both know it's not the first time that it happens this week. I'm not sure that this job is a good thing for you."

This time, it was Caleb's turn to sigh. He didn't agree with her. That job was the best thing that had happened to him in a very long time, in so many aspects. And he wasn't neglecting college or anything, he was just trying to make all his daily things fit together.

"I'm sorry if I haven't called you right away, Samara, I really am, but... I'm actually loving this job. And college's fine, Remy and Miranda are just exaggerated, believe me." he replied then.

"I don't know, Caleb. You sound different."

There it was.

"Look, it's true, I barely have time to sleep, not to mention to study. But... It's just because this was only my first week, I mean, I'll get used to all of this and I'll be able to organize my days better. I'll figure it all out, it just needs some time." he tried to argue.

"Listen... This is getting harder everyday. I don't know if I can keep doing this. I mean, it was hard just not to see you, but... Now you're always working, we hear from each other barely once a day. You can't have time for me anymore, it's clear. We both know that you won't be able to figure it _all_ out, Caleb."

"Samara, I'm not having this conversation by phone." he breathed out, knowing she was right at this point, though.

"I can get over here tomorrow, if you want." she murmured.

"That'd be great. I don't need to work tomorrow."

"Okay."

"Okay, thanks. I'll just see you tomorrow."

"Bye." Samara whispered before finally hanging up.

Caleb shoved his phone back into the pocket of his jeans and sighed deeply, rubbing a hand all over his face. Samara was right, they couldn't keep going like that. The distance was bad enough, and now he didn't have time to handle a relationship already that complicated anymore. He and Samara had shared two years together, true, but in all honesty, he didn't really miss her now. It sounded bad, but he had kind of gotten used to be without her. She wasn't his first thought every morning when he woke up, nor his last one when he went to bed. Not anymore.

Someone else was now, actually.

* * *

Caleb got back inside after a few needed minutes on his own. He got to the counter and smiled at Hanna.

"Is everything alright?" she asked him.

"Yeah, yeah, just... I just need to sort some shit out." he nodded quickly.

She looked at him as she knew he wasn't telling her everything, but she also knew he didn't have to.

"Hey, you look really tired. Maybe it's best for you to go home and take some rest." she smiled softly at him, genuinely worried.

"Yeah, maybe I should." he shrugged slightly.

Noticing he wasn't leaving, Hanna laughed slightly before saying something else.

"Hey, if you're worried about me, I'll be fine. It's weird that I'm not working with you tonight, yeah, but I've been working with Emily for years."

He laughed slightly.

"I know you're a big girl. But, hey, can I have a soda with some ice before leaving, please?" he added then.

"Sure... But for you, it's on the house." she smiled.

He smiled back as he took a seat back on the barstool and watched her making his soda. But he couldn't help but think about Samara's phone call.

"Caleb... Seriously, are you okay?" she asked, placing his glass in front of him, not missing his lost look.

He shook his head quickly before raising his head to nod at her.

"I just... I was talking to my girlfriend earlier. And... I-I think we're over." he blurted out then.

"Oh..." Hanna mumbled, not sure about what to say.

He quickly shook his head again, giving her a reassuring smile.

"No, no, you know, I think that's for the best. I didn't mean to kill the mood, sorry. I... I haven't seen her in forever, anyway. I'm okay, it's just that... You know, when these things happen it's always... _weird_." he added, shrugging.

"Well, I'm sorry. I really am." she replied.

Caleb nodded again, taking a sip of his drink.

"It's fine, really. But thanks for asking if I was okay. It doesn't happen often that people get worried for me." he said then.

She smiled.

"Well... It doesn't happen often that people open up to me either." she added.

He smiled again before finishing his soda. He placed the glass back on the counter and took a deep breath.

"Alright, well... Maybe I should go home now." he said then.

"Okay... Get some rest."

"Yeah." he muttered before getting up from the barstool.

Hanna thought he was going to simply lean forward over the counter to say goodbye, but instead he made all the way around the counter until he was standing behind it, just like her. Then, he placed a hand on her arm and leaned in to place a soft lingering kiss on her cheek.

"Good work, Hanna. I'll see you on Monday." he added then, squeezing her arm.

"Goodnight, Caleb." she smiled up at him.

He nodded and mirrored her small smile, and only then he let go of her arm. He turned to Emily and quickly gave her a kiss on the cheek too before walking away for good, followed by Hanna's eyes.

"Hey... Is he okay?" Emily asked her when Caleb was gone.

"Yeah. Yeah, he is." she replied softly, hoping it was true.

* * *

 **A/N: Hi, beautiful people! :) So, finally something interesting happened here :P Speaking of which, I read your reviews and I'm happy you're enjoying this story even though things between Haleb are moving pretty slowly. I'd like to show how their relationship evolves, step by step, with no rush. Just be a little patient, I promise you're gonna like their path ;) Now, let's give you guys some answers to the questions you asked in the reviews... Guest: Well, here Caleb and Samara basically broke up, also because he realized his mind is focused on Hanna, so now he can probably go "a little further" with Hanna without feeling guilty. And I still haven't decided if Emily will realize that she has another sexual orientation, however I'm not planning on making her and Samara a thing like they were in the show :) Boris Yeltsin: I hope you were happy to see a little more of Toby in here. We also found out that he has a crush on Spencer :D Anyway, soon we'll learn more about the others too. prettylittleliarshaleb: luckily my exams went even better than I was expecting, thank you :) And to the guest who said that this story reminds of the rapport between Ashley and Tyler: I'm so glad you had this feeling because I felt inspired by them for some of the scenes in here, that's why you'll see some Tyshley references in the later chapters of this fic :) To everyone else who reviewed a huge thank you and a big hug for taking a little time to leave me your kind words. It's always and really, really appreciated :) Next chapter, Samara and Caleb will talk face to face, you'll learn more about Caleb's friends and there will be more Haleb —cute Haleb :D—, obviously :) So, I hope you enjoyed Caleb and Toby's little chat, Caleb singing and everything else! Tell me anything you want in your reviews, I can't wait to know your thoughts! :) Little reminder: please forgive me for any grammar mistake, you know English is not my native language but I do my best to give you good chapters! Love you guys, until next time! xx -Atramea.**


	5. Chapter 5

"So..." Caleb began after clearing his throat.

"So..." Samara repeated.

They were at his place, sitting on the couch. Samara had just landed in LA and had gone straight to Caleb's, ready to face their situation. The pair had greeted each other with a rather awkward hug, then Caleb had made some coffee and now they were there, sitting on the couch in front of their still filled cups.

"I'm sorry, Samara." he sighed, crossing her gaze.

"Well... It's not your fault. I mean, not completely, at least. We knew from the beginning that, with you moving here, things would get rather hard... I mean, harder than before."

He nodded slowly, pursing his lips.

"Yeah, you're right. We decided to try, but... Now I don't think that's a good idea to keep going like this." he continued.

"Yeah... We see each other once a month, if we're lucky. Plus, you totally started a new life here... A new apartment, college, a new job... Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for you, but... Keep being together would only be a sacrifice for both of us. We both deserve better than a long-distance relationship."

"I agree with you. You know, it's like I'm starting a new chapter of my life here, and—"

"I can't be part of it." Samara finished for him with a bitter smile.

Caleb sighed and scratched the back of his neck. He wasn't going to say it that harsh, but that's pretty much what he wanted to say, in the end.

"Samara, I swear, I wanted this to work. I really did. But... I guess that sometimes life just decides for us, and there's not much we can do about it." he murmured then.

"No, Caleb. I believe you, and you're completely right, seriously." she nodded.

"Well... How are you doing in Philly?" he asked then to make conversation.

She took a sip of her coffee before replying.

"Good. You know, it's been hectic at work, but I enjoy that."

"You've always liked having a lot of things to do." he smiled at her before sipping his coffee too.

"True. What about you?"

He swallowed his coffee before replying.

"Work's nice. I like it. It's true that I spend eight hours a day for six days a week in there, but I do like it. And college's good too. If Remy and Miranda told you I'm distraught, well, it's just because I have to get used to be all active and concentrated in the morning after working for the whole night. But, I swear, I'm not neglecting it for my job. It took me a lot of sacrifices to be able to attend the UCLA, and I'm not going to just throw it away. I know what I'm doing, I promise."

Samara nodded again.

"And how do you feel about living here alone?" she asked again.

"It's cool. Plus, Luke's always around when I'm home, so it's not like I feel lonely."

She finished her coffee before standing up.

"Well... I should get going now." she announced then.

"You sure? You can stay awhile, we can have lunch together. I mean, it wouldn't be awkward to me. I want us to stay friends, if you're okay with that." he replied honestly, standing up as well.

"Caleb, we'll stay friends. You know, maybe that's all we've ever been, after all. Plus, you and I have the same group of friends as well, so it'd be nice if we can keep going out together when we're all in Philly without problems, so it's fine. I don't feel awkward around you either. I mean, I've known you for ages and we're both adults, so..."

"I'm glad to hear that. So what about lunch?"

"I already made plans with Remy and Miranda. You know, I could really enjoy some girly time while here in LA. Don't take any offence." she smiled.

"No problem, I get it. Well, then... I'm happy we agreed on this. It was nice to see you again."

"So am I. Nice to see you too."

Caleb, then, hugged her tightly.

"You're a good guy, Caleb. I wish you the best." she whispered into his ear as she returned his hug.

"Thank you. I wish you the same."

Pulling away from the hug, Samara looked up at him and asked him one last thing.

"I know it's not the reason of our break-up, but... Is there any girl you like around here?"

Caleb opened his mouth to say something, but he eventually didn't say anything, blushing slightly.

"It's okay, Caleb. I know you well enough, you don't need to give me an answer." she laughed then.

* * *

Caleb spent his afternoon home, studying with Luke. Remy and Miranda were probably shopping somewhere with Samara, that's why they weren't there with them.

"So you talked with Samara?" Luke asked while they were having a break.

Caleb stretched himself on his chair and scratched his head.

"Yeah. Yeah, even if we already knew it was over. But it went well. I mean, it wasn't anything anguishing or awkward, we even decided to stay friends. She's a sweet girl and I'll always care about her, but... You know, our relationship had become impossible lately. We barely saw each other since I moved here, so we kind of gradually lost some kind of feelings, you know. I love her and I'll always love her, but not like that. I haven't been feeling that pull toward her in a while. Things simply changed. She basically became a sister to me." he added then, shrugging.

"Well, then I guess that was the best decision, man. With college and your new job, handle a long-distance relationship was too much to ask you for."

"Yeah, but I'm really happy we're gonna stay friends. She's such a nice girl and, like I said, I'll always care about her."

"So... You're back on the market, huh?" Luke smirked.

"Shut up! I don't have time for a girl!" Caleb laughed.

"Well, you don't have time for a girl who lives miles and miles away from you, but... Maybe you have time for a girl who's around here." Luke raised his eyebrows.

Caleb quirked his ones, shaking his head slightly.

"What are you saying, man?" he asked.

"I'm just saying something that you already know. Despite all the friendship things and stuff, everyone knows that... Yeah, that Miranda has always had a thing for you."

Caleb rolled his eyes.

"Luke, this story is from when, middle school? It's been years and years, then I dated Samara—" he began then, but Luke cut him off.

"And you broke her heart. But she eventually accepted it because she's friend with Samara. However, now—"

" _Now_ nothing. Miranda is a pretty girl and whatever, but I'm just not interested, I'm sorry." this time it was Caleb's turn to cut Luke off.

"C'mon, man. Think about it... You're my bestfriend, Remy's my girlfriend, and Miranda is Remy's bestfriend. It would be perfect if you and Miranda became a thing. Give her a chance, you know, just to see how it works."

" _Just to see how it works_? Seriously? Luke, I just broke up with Samara and you're asking me to try and date one of her closest friends who, quite frankly, I don't even see with me in _that_ sense?" Caleb raised an eyebrow.

Luke sighed.

"I'm sorry, it's just that... Remy asked me to put a good word with you for Miranda. You know how girls are." he confessed then, slightly rolling his eyes.

"Okay, man, look... I just broke up with Samara, I'm very busy and I just don't need a girlfriend in my life right now, nor if she's one of my friends. A _friend_ , that's what Miranda is to me, nothing else. Anyway... I'll make sure to speak with Remy when I have the chance. I know you were just thrown in the middle of this."

"Fine, you're right, sorry. Let's just get back to study." Luke smiled.

Caleb smiled gratefully at him and nodded.

* * *

Later that day, Remy and Miranda stopped by Caleb's too, saying Samara had already taken her plane back to Philly. Caleb told them they could have dinner all together at his place, and so they did.

After eating, they watched a movie. It was rather awkward when Luke and Remy started making out, leaving Caleb and Miranda next to each other in an uncomfortable situation. However, at some point Caleb lost it, suddenly standing up and clearing his throat.

"Remy, can I have a word in private with you, please?" he asked.

Remy pulled away from her boyfriend and raised an eyebrow at Caleb.

"Can't it wait?" she asked.

"Nope." Caleb huffed, moving to his bedroom.

Remy sighed and stood up, eventually following Caleb. He was waiting for her with his arms crossed over his chest and a not really happy expression.

"What?" she asked.

"Remy, I broke up with Samara just today. You need to stop doing that."

"What do you mean?"

"I know you love Miranda, but you can't use your boyfriend to push me toward her. I also know you would love the four of us to be two couples in love, but I don't like Miranda in _that_ sense. So, please, stop trying to make us a thing. Whenever Samara and I were off, I've always noticed you would do what you're doing now. It's not the first time. Miranda is my friend, okay? I'm cool with _just_ that. Please, just accept it once for all. Plus she's beautiful, I know she wouldn't have any problem to find a guy who likes her, it's not like she's desperate and needs some help from her friends to date someone, so... I really don't see why you keep insisting on this."

"C'mon, Caleb, she's been into you for years and you know that. I can't push you into something you don't want to, yeah, but the four of us are always together and she—"

"Look, I know she's your bestfriend, but I guess she can speak for herself, right? If she wants to tell me something about this stuff, I swear I'll talk to her. But I won't discuss this with you again. You and Luke are my bestfriends, Remy. Along with Miranda. You guys know me very well. We don't need to do these childish things behind each other's backs, right? We're not in school anymore." he cut her off.

Remy sighed and raised her arms in defence.

"Okay, okay... Whatever." she said then.

"Thank you."

* * *

The next day, after college, Caleb had nothing good to do. Classes were over, he had studied enough the previous day, and he didn't need rest since he hadn't worked on Sunday.

While playing GTA around six in the afternoon, his mobile beeped from the coffee table. He paused the game and took it, feeling surprised when he saw it was a text from Hanna. They had exchanged numbers during their first night of work together, saying it could be useful to organize their work stuff.

 _Hey Philly boy:) U done with classes?_

He smiled at himself as he texted her back.

 _Yup:) What's up?_

 _I'm already at the bar. U busy?_

 _Nope. Did something bad happen there? Do I need to come?_

 _Nothing bad, but I was gonna ask you if you would come:)_

Caleb grinned. He didn't know why she wanted him to come, but she _did_ want him to.

 _On my way:)_ he typed before standing up to turn his XBox off.

When he got to the bar, he walked to the counter where Hanna was sitting on a barstool.

"Hey there." he smiled before bending down to kiss her on the cheek, casually resting his hand on her small back as he did so.

"Hi." she smiled brightly.

"Dude." Toby grinned from behind the counter, and Caleb gave him a fist-bump.

Spencer was busy at some table, so Caleb just sat on the barstool next to Hanna.

"So, what's up?" he smiled at her.

She smiled back at him, turning slightly on her barstool to look better at him.

"You know, I was just wondering if you were okay. I would've come to your place if I had known where you live, but I don't, so... I thought we could just meet up here." she said then.

"Okay, but... I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be okay?"

"Well, after what you told me Saturday night before leaving... I was wondering if you were."

"Oh, you mean for Samara, my ex-girlfriend? No, look, we saw each other yesterday, she came here. We ended things for good, but it actually was a relief. I'm totally okay, thank you. I didn't mean to make you worry about that." he smiled.

"Oh, okay. But I didn't mean to be nosey either."

"No, no, you weren't at all. Thank you for asking me, by the way."

"I'm glad." she smiled.

Caleb nodded and smiled back, losing himself into her blue orbs. For a few seconds, they were just staring at each other, then it was Toby who woke them up from their daydream, coming up to them behind the counter.

"Guys, anything you'd like to have?"

They both suddenly snapped back to reality.

"Uh... Sorry?" Caleb mumbled, finally looking at Toby.

The blonde guy had to hold back a chuckle, then repeated his question. Hanna and Caleb both ordered a mojito, then Toby proceeded to make the drinks.

"What about you? What did you do yesterday?" Caleb casually asked Hanna as they waited for their mojitos.

"Uh, nothing special. I went out with Jason and some friends."

"Jason?"

"Yeah. We kind of have the same circle of friends here in LA, you know. Aria came too. We usually meet up all together on Sundays, when no one has to work. And Jason comes when he happens to be in town."

"Got it. And I assume Emily stayed home with her boyfriend?" he grinned.

She rolled her eyes.

"Of course. That's where she is right now... Home with him." she muttered then.

Caleb laughed, amused.

"Why don't they just move in together somewhere?" he asked then.

"That's exactly what I wonder."

"There you go." Toby grinned as he placed their mojitos on the counter.

"Thanks." Hanna and Caleb said at the same time.

After a few sips, Hanna spoke again.

"Anyway, I'm sorry if I made you come here when you were okay. You were probably getting some rest and I just disturbed you, sorry."

Caleb chuckled and shook his head.

"I was just playing GTA, Hanna. I'm not tired after yesterday, plus... Being here now is definitely much better than being home alone." he added, smiling at her.

She smiled back, nodding.

"Oh, you know what? I actually have an idea." he said once they had both finished their drinks.

"What is that?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Ezra's not in the back, right?"

"No, he's only here in the morning. Why?"

"Follow me?" he grinned, slipping off his barstool and offering his hand to her.

She accepted his hand, smiling even though she had no idea about what he was up to, and the pair made their way to the back room of the bar, followed by Toby's amused gaze.

When they reached Ezra's office, they were still absent-mindedly holding hands. He sat on the small couch, only then leaving her hand, then she did the same, sitting next to him as he pulled the guitar from behind the couch.

"So... You listened to me, now it's your turn." he smirked, handing her the guitar.

"What? I'm not doing that!" Hanna laughed, widening her eyes.

"Yes, you are."

"No, Caleb, I'm just an amateur, I told you. You're the musician here."

"Not true, and that's not the point anyways. Please, just do what you can. It's not a competition. I just want to listen to you, I'm not expecting anything, I promise. But I do know you're good." he pleaded.

She sighed, looking down at the guitar in her arms.

"Fine." she rolled her eyes.

Caleb smiled and put his hand under his chin as he stared at her. She was all focused in placing her fingertips on the right strings.

"What are you gonna play?" he asked softly, afraid that otherwise he would disturb her.

"Uh... _Knockin' on Heaven's door_. It's one of the few songs I know."

"Alright."

Hanna began playing, taking her time to switch from one chord to another, but Caleb thought she was absolutely cute, especially when she hummed the words of the song. At some point, she made a mistake and chuckled.

"Sorry." she mumbled.

"No, it's fine. Go on." he smiled at her.

Hanna kept going, but then she made another mistake.

"Shit." she muttered.

Caleb chuckled and pointed at her fingers.

"Uh... I think you need to play a G major now, not a C." he explained her softly.

"Oh, yeah, right."

Then Hanna tried to do what Caleb was suggesting, but she failed again. They both bursted into laughter at that point.

"Alright, alright... Come a little closer." he said then.

Hanna, still holding the guitar, moved closer to him on the couch and he tried to show her how she needed to put her fingers, but they were even more uncomfortable sitting like that.

"Alright, wait." she said then, suddenly standing up with the guitar.

He didn't have time to realize what she was about to do, the next thing he knew was that she was sitting on his lap.

"Okay, so?" she asked then, slightly turning her neck to look at him.

Caleb had to swallow and hoped he hadn't blushed or anything. He had never been that close to her before, and he found out it was something that he really liked, like... _a lot_. He slowly opened his arms, then brought one of his hands to the handle of the guitar, gently grabbing her hand.

"Here..." he whispered as he helped her to put her fingers on the right strings.

Her sweet scent was filling his nose as his head was right above her shoulder, trying to have a look at the position of his fingers.

"Oh... Right." she whispered as she finally played the right chord.

Much to his surprise, she didn't get off his lap after that. She just kept playing and softly singing, and he awkwardly put his arms at either side of her hips, making sure he wasn't touching her. Not that he didn't want to, he just wanted to make sure he wasn't acting inappropriately. But then again, she was the one who had sat on his lap in the first place.

"So?" she asked when the song was over.

He had to admit it, she wasn't bad as a singer either. He smiled at her when she turned her head again.

"You're seriously amazing. Why didn't you want to play?" he asked then.

She shrugged slightly.

"I don't know, I guess that after listening to you, I thought I would just appear like a total loser." she added.

He laughed.

"You didn't, I promise." he said then.

Hanna chuckled, then put the guitar on her side, lying it on the free room on the couch. She leaned back on his chest and sighed.

"You have to give me private classes." she commented then.

Caleb chuckled, then decided he could actually move his arms. He looped them around her waist and breathed in her scent.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Yep."

"Well, you don't need them, in my opinion. You're good."

"You just say it because you don't want me around so often." she joked.

"You think I don't?" he laughed slightly.

"Do you?"

He smirked before pressing a kiss on her cheek.

"Well... It's nice to have you around." he whispered then.

She smiled at him.

"You know, I didn't mean to pry. I mean, if I asked you to meet me here. It's just that it's part of me, I feel the need to ask people if they're okay. And, I mean, you've always been so nice and sweet with me, so—" she began ranting, but he cut her off, smiling.

"You already apologized about that and you didn't even have to. I appreciated that, Hanna. Seriously."

She smiled back at him and he kissed her cheek once again, his nose bumping against the side of her head as he did so. Suddenly, it wasn't awkward anymore. Now, he was actually feeling comfortable around her. Usually, he wasn't such an expansive guy, but when he was around her, it just happened, especially lately. Maybe it was partly because she was pretty expansive in the first place, so he kind of played along with her, anyway there was something absolutely natural in his —and hers— gestures by now.

"Wow, what are all of these kisses for?" she giggled as he tightened his grip around her waist.

"I don't know." he laughed.

She laughed too before turning around and pressing a kiss on his cheek herself.

"And what was that for?" he asked then, grinning.

"Because you're sweet." she shrugged.

He laughed.

"What about you, anyway? Are you okay?" he asked then.

"Yeah, I am. Why?"

"Well, I figured that maybe you feel the need to ask people if they're okay because they don't ask you, instead, or... They just haven't asked you enough times when you actually needed to be comforted."

She smiled at him.

"You really are sweet." she whispered then.

"Am I right?" he just asked her.

She sighed.

"Well... Maybe sometimes I would have needed someone to worry about me, yeah." she finally confessed.

Caleb didn't know much about her past, but he didn't want to press her, so he just nodded at her.

"Are you okay now?" he asked again.

She smiled and nodded at him, contently leaning back against his chest.

"Caleb Rivers... Where have you been all this time?" she sighed then.

He chuckled.

"Uh... In Philadelphia?" he added then, jokingly.

She laughed, and he couldn't help but think about how much he liked the sound of that laugh of hers.

* * *

When they got back into the bar, Toby immediately gave Caleb a smirk and eyed him in a teasing way. When Hanna excused herself to go to the restroom, Toby approached Caleb, giving a pat on his shoulder.

"Did you guys have a nice time?" he teased then.

"What does make you think that?" Caleb muttered in reply, rolling his eyes.

"Well... That lipstick sign on your cheek, for example. Oh, and also the fact that you blushed like a teenager as soon as I said so."

"I just helped her play the guitar." Caleb argued quickly, awkwardly rubbing his cheek to wipe the lipstick sign off.

"Yeah, man. Whatever you say."

"Nothing's going on, I promise. We work together, she's helping me settle in and I'm grateful to her. She's a nice girl."

"And beautiful too."

Caleb sighed before replying.

"She's very beautiful... Too beautiful for someone like me, indeed."

"That's bullshit. Why would you think that she's out of your league, man? Anyway you're _so_ into her."

"I've known her just for a little while, I..."

But then, Caleb saw Toby raising his eyebrows at him.

"Alright, I like her. Happy now?" the brunette guy finally gave in, careful to keep his voice low.

"Well, then keep it up. Maybe she likes you too."

"She does, actually. I mean... She told me, but I think I don't have to misunderstand those words. We're getting to know each other and we're getting along very well so far, that's it. Man, c'mon, we already had this conversation a few days ago. You know, I don't wanna make weird ideas about us. And, just for the record, I broke up with my girlfriend just yesterday, so..."

Toby looked surprised.

"You had a girlfriend?" he exclaimed then.

Caleb shrugged before replying.

"Yeah, but she lives in Philly, so we eventually decided to end things for both's sake. It could no longer work. Hanna knew about her, by the way."

"And does she also know that you guys are over now?"

"She does." Caleb nodded.

"Alright. Just let time do its work, then." Toby concluded, winking at him.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey guys! :) First of all, as usual, thank you so much for all of the reviews you left to the last chapter... So appreciated :) I'm glad you liked Caleb singing and how his relationship with Hanna is slowly evolving :) That's why I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well ;) So, Samara and Caleb now are officially over, we found out that Miranda is into Caleb —uh-oh— and there was this cute Haleb moment in the end! So? Liked it? Hated it? Let me know, I love hearing from you! Also, a guest asked if we'll get to see Samara and Hanna meet... Well, they didn't meet now, but I won't just make Samara disappear... I actually the idea of her having some kind of chat with Hanna, so thank you for giving it to me, it could definitely happen in the future chapters :) Also, guys, what do you think about Miranda? Can't wait to know! I also hope the Caleb/Samara break-up wasn't bad, they simply agreed that it was time to end it also because they were too far from each other. So, nothing, that's it :) I really hope to read your thoughts about this! Next chapter was pretty funny to write, you'll see Caleb and all the guys from the bar going out on a night together, so Hanna will be there too ;) Will there be some "progresses" in their relationship? Who knows? :P Also, the first Tyshley reference —which I saw you're all looking forward to :D— will be in this next chapter :) A huge thank you to each one of you who's reading, following, reviewing or whatever :) Until next time, love you all! xx -Atramea.**


	6. Chapter 6

A month had passed, and Caleb was enjoying his job everyday more. Now he had also managed to handle the time gaps better so that he could balance rest and study between his free hours, along with the hours he had to actually be in college.

His relationship with Hanna was cool. They still went to Starbucks after their night shifts, drinking their frappuccinos and talking about everything and nothing. They had grown pretty fond of each other, also given that they were spending so many hours together. He even took some of his free hours to come to the bar earlier and teach her to play a few songs with the guitar whenever she could come earlier too.

Now, on Sunday, The Brew's closing day, all the bartenders and Jason had decided to spend a night together at some disco. They were doing that quite often, but it was Caleb's first time. He had also offered to stop by Hanna and Emily's to pick them up, so that the girls didn't need to take another car or a cab to come. Hanna had carefully explained Caleb where she and Emily lived, because they had never been at each other's place before then.

After choosing a nice yet casual outfit and carefully fixing his hair, Caleb sprayed over his neck some of his CK cologne before finally exiting his apartment and hopping into his Mercedes. He drove to Hanna and Emily's clearly remembering what Hanna had told him and finally got there. He gave Hanna a ring and waited outside, into the car, but she quickly texted him to come upstairs.

He reached the door of their apartment and took a deep breath before knocking. A smiling Hanna opened the door to him.

"Hey, you." she exclaimed before spreading her arms toward him.

He laughed and hugged her, breathing in her scent before turning his head to print a big kiss on her cheek.

"Hey, beautiful." he whispered then.

And he meant it. She was wearing a tight black and blue minidress which left exposed her long smooth legs with some black five-inch heels at her feet, and her hair was all curled around her cute heart-shaped perfectly made up face. She was absolutely gorgeous, he almost felt self conscious in front of her, wearing his simple V-neck grey buttoned shirt and his white jeans and sneakers.

"Come in. Em is in the bathroom, but she's not gonna take long." Hanna said then, slowly pulling away from the hug.

He smiled and stepped into the apartment as she closed the door behind him. The place was tidy and smelt like clean, it was also nice and quite large. Hanna gave him a quick tour before plopping herself on the couch, patting the spot next to her. Caleb gladly sat next to her and smiled.

"It's nice here." he said simply.

She shrugged before replying.

"Yeah, it's not that bad, after all. Although I still feel like I need my own place, you know."

"You're a free spirit just like me, then." he grinned.

"Pretty much." she laughed.

"So, is everyone coming?"

"Yeah, or so it seems. Thanks for picking us up, by the way."

"Not a problem." he smiled, giving her a wink.

Finally, Emily —who was wearing a minidress too and looked gorgeous as well— emerged from the bathroom and gave Caleb a quick hug before they finally decided they could go.

* * *

An hour later, loud music, tequila and vodka everywhere, the lights of the disco all around the place.

Aria was dancing close to Jason, Toby was more than happy to be squeezed in between Spencer and Emily, and a few feet away there was Hanna, with a tequila shot in her hand, dancing stuck to Caleb. Her back was pressed against his chest, and her bottom occasionally rubbed against his crotch. He was using all of his willpower to keep his self-control, even though Hanna's strong perfume mixed with the smell of alcohol was starting to cloud his mind even more. He actually didn't know how he was going to spend the whole night that way. It wasn't that he didn't like _that_ way, anything...he actually liked it _too much_.

Though, Hanna wasn't acting like that because she liked provoking Caleb and see how long he could resist, she just acted like that because she liked being so close to him, she had found it out throughout the past weeks, being stuck to him at work. However, when he felt like he could no longer handle the situation, he walked away to order something to drink.

"Where are you going?" Hanna asked immediately.

"I'll just grab a drink, I'll be right back." he reassured her, winking in her direction.

She smiled at him and he finally reached the counter, ordering and then throwing back his beverage. He didn't move his gaze away from Hanna, though. He wanted to make sure there was no perv going anywhere near her. After drinking, he went to sit in one of the boots, checking his phone. There were just a few texts from Luke, nothing important. He just leaned back in his seat, starting to play some game to try and relax for a moment. Soon enough, though, first Toby, then Aria and then everyone else but Hanna and Emily came up to him to talk a little. Caleb put his phone away and they started chatting, laughing and joking. His eyes, however, were still focused on Hanna, who was still on the dancefloor enjoying herself with Emily. They could dance for hours with those heels without getting tired.

At some point, though, Hanna and Emily, noticing they were the only ones of their company still moving their hips on the dancefloor, decided to join their friends at the table. Emily sat on the armrest of Aria's seat, while Hanna, almost automatically, chose Caleb's comfortable lap as her own seat. He immediately started feeling hot again, since having Hanna's bare thighs pressed against his jeans and her ass pressed right _there_ wasn't easy. She was gorgeous, but Caleb knew that her body wasn't the only thing which attracted him to her. Anyway, he just kissed her cheek and put his hands around her stomach, trying to make her feel comfortable. However, one of his hands accidentally slipped down and slightly touched one of her bare thighs. Caleb immediately felt bad about that and quickly tried to pull his hand back, but Hanna just put her own hand over his, not removing it from her thigh. As if it wasn't enough, she also slowly started tracing patterns on the back of his hand, absent-mindedly, while chatting with everyone.

Ten minutes or so later, Hanna decided to go grab a drink with Aria. Caleb unwrapped his arms from her body to allow her to stand up, and he couldn't help but watch her ass sway as she walked to the counter. He sighed, then he was dragged by Toby back on the dancefloor because _I'm sexy and I know it_ was playing, and the pair was soon joined by Jason.

On the other side of the disco, Hanna was sipping a drink with Aria, watching the three boys dance with a smile plastered on her face.

"They're so idiot!" Aria joked, throwing down the last sip of her Sex On The Beach.

Hanna laughed slightly at that. She couldn't hide to herself that she was focusing on the way Caleb moved, the way his muscles contracted, the ten thousand facial expression which appeared on his face while he danced. Sure, most of them were idiot expressions, but Hanna found him handsome anyways.

"Toby's almost ridicolous, Jason is exaggerated, but... Caleb actually knows what he's doing." Aria continued.

"Yeah." Hanna simply agreed, without taking her eyes off Caleb.

"Do you and Caleb like each other?" Aria asked out of the blue, not beating around the bush.

Only then, Hanna finally looked at her coworker in the eyes, raising her eyebrows at her.

"Oh, we... We spend a lot of time together, you know. I get along really well with him, he makes me laugh and he's a handsome guy. He's...a person I like, sure." she added, trying to make it sound like it wasn't such a big deal.

"So.. He's a friend?" Aria teased.

Hanna paused for a second.

"He's my Philly boy." she concluded then, smiling and finally walking back to the dancefloor.

She came up to Caleb and he immediately smiled down at her.

"Are you enjoying the night?" she said into his ear as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Yeah... Are you?" he asked back as he looped his arms around her waist.

She nodded against his shoulder as they began dancing together once again.

After a while, though, a guy came up behind Hanna and started grinding himself against her. At first, Caleb let him do that, seeing Hanna okay with that and thinking that he only wanted to dance with her without weird ideas in his mind, but then he realized the guy had clearly had a little too much to drink, so he gently pulled Hanna closer to him by her wrist and spun them around, so that he was between her and the guy. She looked up at him and quirked an eyebrow, so he just gave her a look and she finally understood. Laughing, she threw herself into his arms and restarted dancing with him, loving how protective he was.

In fact, that wasn't even the only episode of the night. Half an hour later, Hanna and Caleb were standing near the counter, just for a glass of water. Caleb knew he had to drive, so he had purposelly avoided to drink alcohol, while Hanna simply didn't want to end up drunk. While they were there, Caleb noticed another guy, sitting a few barstools away from where he and Hanna were standing which was literally staring at her bottom. Somehow, seeing that literally drove him crazy, so he put his empty glass on the counter and, glaring deadly at the guy, he leaned forward and slightly push the hem of Hanna's dress a little lower.

"What are you looking at, huh?" he grunted then, loudly enough to make him hear.

Hanna immediately turned around and saw the guy shake his head before disappearing through the crowd.

"What was that about?" she asked Caleb, turning back to face him.

"He was totally checking you out." he rolled his eyes.

She laughed, placing her own glass on the counter.

"You're being a little overprotective, you know that?" she said then, even though she found it absolutely adorable.

"And your dress is a little too short, you know that?" he raised an eyebrow.

She laughed again, shaking her head lightly.

"Whatever. Anyway, Emily's gone. Ben came to pick her up, she's gonna sleep at his place tonight. Tomorrow she has the morning shift, which is like in a few hours, so she decided to leave earlier." she said then.

"Oh, okay. So you finally have all the apartment to yourself..." he grinned.

"Once in a while."

"Alright, then... When you wanna leave, you just tell me and I'll take you home, okay?"

"Okay... But let's dance a little longer before that." Hanna nodded, smiling and taking his hand.

"Fine." he chuckled, following her back to the dancefloor.

* * *

Another few hours, alcohol and music later, the night was pretty much over. Most of the guys were sober, though, including Hanna and Caleb. The pair and Jason were the last of their group to leave the disco. They decided to smoke a cigarette together before actually going home.

"So, have you seen the way this guy shakes his ass?" Jason asked Hanna, patting Caleb's shoulder before reproducing his way of dancing.

She just laughed at that.

"Hey, what's so funny about my ass?" Caleb asked, blowing out a stream of smoke as he spoke.

"What is it, Rivers? You want to be told that it's a good-looking ass, maybe?" Hanna asked back.

"I wasn't the one bringing the topic up." Caleb defended himself, shrugging.

She looked at him raising her eyebrows, then he took a drag from his cigarette before saying something else.

"However, it will never be as good-looking as yours."

She widened her eyes at him as Jason started laughing furiously.

"Caleb!" Hanna exclaimed then.

"What? Hanna, c'mon, I see you almost everyday and I'm with you for eight hours no stop or even more, how could I _not_ have _ever_ taken a look at your ass?" he explained then, grinning.

"But you just yelled at that guy in there because he was checking me out!" she pointed out, although she was half-laughing.

"Oh, for God's sake... That's different. He doesn't have confidence with you, plus he was almost drooling! I was just looking after you." Caleb continued.

"Of course you were." Hanna laughed.

"Well, then I can tell Jordan that he doesn't have to worry about bad guys... You seem to have a good bodyguard here." Jason commented.

Caleb furrowed his eyebrows. Who the fuck was Jordan now? Hanna was single, right?

"Jason." Hanna muttered, glaring at him.

"What?" Jason asked innocently.

"You won't tell Jordan anything. We're just friends and you know that." she told him.

"Yeah, yeah... Whatever. I'm going home, by the way. Man, bring her home safe and sound." Jason said then, patting Caleb's shoulder once again.

Caleb was still wondering who that Jordan guy was, but hearing Hanna say he was just a friend had kinda reassured him. The sudden thought of her being with a guy had caused a bad feeling at the tip of his stomach, but he eventually shook it off. He had had a great night with Hanna and his coworkers, and he didn't want to remember that night because of some guy named Jordan.

"Don't worry, dude. She's in good hands." he then smiled at Jason, who nodded and put his cigarette out with his shoe.

"See ya." the older guy concluded, giving Caleb a brief one arm hug and Hanna a kiss on the cheek.

When Jason hopped into his car, Hanna turned to Caleb.

"Yours isn't that bad either, by the way." she said.

He raised an eyebrow.

"What?" he asked, genuinely confused.

She laughed, then threw her cigarette to the ground and put it out with her heel. Only then, Caleb realized she was talking about his ass, but decided not to go further with the discussion, he just smirked and put his own cigarette out before nodding toward his car.

"C'mon, let's take you home, miss." he said, grinning.

* * *

Hanna and Caleb had now reached the building where her apartment was. He parked near the sidewalk and turned to her to say goodbye, but she was too focused to search her keys into her purse.

"Shit, where the fuck are they?" she muttered, rummaging in there.

"Can't find your keys?"

"No. Fuck, this is not happening..." she growled as she continued to search.

After a minute, she sighed and threw her head back against the seat, giving up.

"Shit, they must be inside the apartment. I probably left them on the coffee table, fuck." she muttered then.

"Well... Didn't you have a spare key under the carpet of the door or somewhere?" he asked.

"We had that... Until Emily decided to give it to Ben."

"Wait, what? Emily's boyfriend has the spare key of your apartment?" Caleb couldn't help but laugh.

"Unfortunately, yes." Hanna replied, not sounding as amused as him.

He noticed that and stopped laughing, clearing his throat.

"Alright, well..." he began, but she cut him off.

"Oh my God, I'm an idiot. You need to take me to a hotel. No, shit, I don't have enough money for a room here now... Well, maybe I could go to Aria's... No, fuck, she has the morning shift too, I can't disturb her. Okay, well... You can drop me off here. I'll just call this friend of mine, I'm sure she can come and pick me up."

He chuckled at her little rant.

"Hey..." he whispered then.

She looked up at him, finally giving him her attention.

"Why disturbing someone else at this time when I'm here with you?" he continued.

She smiled at him, but she still had a confused expression, so he went on.

"It's cold outside, and I'm not letting you wait someone alone in LA at this time of the night... Or morning, I better say. Just... Come to my place. Yeah, I only have one bed, but I'll be totally fine with the couch. It's all settled."

He had no secret agendas, he just wanted to give a person who he cared about somewhere to sleep. He didn't want anything else, his offer had been totally spontaneous.

"Are you sure?" Hanna asked.

"Of course I am. It's okay."

She smiled and then reached forward over her seat to hug him.

"Thank you, Caleb, seriously... What would I do without you?" she murmured as he returned her hug.

Caleb quickly kissed the top of her head, then proceeded to turn back on the engine of the car and started to drive toward his own apartment.

"So... Is there anyone home?" Hanna asked at some point throughout the ride.

He chuckled, then she continued.

"What's so idiot about what I just asked?"

"I live on my own, Han. Who would you expect to find in my apartment?"

"I don't know, some girl?"

"Trust me, if that's what you're worried about, you can totally un-worry." he replied, turning to her for a brief moment to flash her a smile.

Hanna smiled back, then asked something else.

"Do you have something I can use as a pajama?"

"Oh, not really. But you'll see that one of my shirts will be perfect."

She laughed slightly at that.

* * *

They finally arrived.

Caleb opened the door and moved himself to one side, gesturing for Hanna to get in first. She smiled to thank him and finally stepped in. She thought it wasn't bad at all, even though Caleb's stuff was shattered pretty much everywhere.

"Sorry for the chaos, you can totally tell this is the apartment of a twenty-four years old bachelor..." he mumbled, scratching the top of his head as he closed the door behind his back.

"Don't worry." she reassured him, smiling.

"Well... Have a seat." he said then, pointing toward the couch.

Hanna sat down, then Caleb went to the kitchen and reappeared shortly after carrying two mugs of hot tea and some cookies.

"What about an early breakfast? I know it's not like a frappuccino, but still..." he smiled, handing her a mug.

"Thanks, Caleb. You didn't have to." she replied, accepting it.

They drank their teas silently, without any rush, as outside the sun was almost starting to rise. Caleb finished his tea and walked away without giving much of an explanation, then came back to Hanna with a Led Zeppelin shirt in his hand.

"This is one of my favorites, but it's too small for me by now. Though I think it's large enough for you to become your nightgown." he added, handing it to her and smiling.

"God, Caleb, I love them! Don't worry, it's gonna be perfect!" she replied, taking it from him.

He smiled and carried away the empty mugs, then he came back to her.

"Alright, whenever you want, you can go to the bedroom. The sheets are clean. Oh, you can obviously use the bathroom. And whatever you need, I'll be here on the couch, okay?" he told her then.

"Isn't it a little cold to sleep on the couch?"

"Don't worry, it's just for a few hours... Plus I have a cover." he smiled reassuringly at her.

Hanna stood up, approaching Caleb.

"Look, I'm going to the bathroom to remove my make up and get changed, but... Why don't you come sleep in the bedroom too?" she asked then.

"What is it, you want me to sleep on the carpet like a dog?" he laughed.

"Dummy, I mean in the bed! Yeah, you too..."

Caleb raised his eyebrows, a little embarassed.

"Oh, well... I don't know, I..." he stammered.

"I wouldn't have a problem with that." she smiled.

He shrugged, then Hanna moved to the bathroom.

"I'll wait for you there!" she called as she walked away.

Hanna wasn't malicious. She felt totally comfortable around Caleb, and sleeping in his same bed wouldn't be awkward to her. She knew that she could hug him if she was cold without being rejected. She knew there wouldn't be anything bad in that. She wasn't playing with Caleb. She cared about him as much as he cared about her. Sleeping in the same bed was something intimate, Hanna knew that too, but she thought that Caleb and her were intimate enough to spend a few hours _that_ close. She would just enjoy to settle down in his arms.

Caleb, on the other hand, felt a little awkward about that, probably because he was more shy. Sure, he was a guy who liked enjoying himself and everything, but he had his weak points. And Hanna was one of his weak points, one of the weakest, if not _the_ weakest, right now. But he couldn't say no to her. How could he say no to her if she wanted to hug him between the sheets? It was cold indeed, the bed was large enough, plus they would keep each other warm. So what was the problem?

He stripped down in the living room, leaving himself with just his undershirt and his boxers underneath. Then, he waited five minutes before approaching the bathroom door, and noticed Hanna wasn't in there anymore, so he entered and quickly brushed his teeth and washed his face. He then took a look at his watch and saw it was five-thirty in the morning, so he finally walked to the bedroom. The door was left ajar, so he pushed it slightly. Through the slight crack, he saw Hanna who was looking at her reflection in the mirror of the room. She had his Led Zeppelin shirt on, which covered her body just under her thighs and her thin lacy panties showed through it. She looked absolutely gorgeous even like that, even if she had no make up on. Indeed, she look even hotter in his shirt. Caleb smiled to himself and finally knocked on the door.

"Can I?" he murmured.

"It's your bedroom, of course you can." Hanna replied, welcoming him with a warm smile.

He finally got in the room before looking at her from head to toe.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing, just... You look gorgeous, even like this." he blurted out, trying to hide his embarassment behind another smile.

Hanna smiled back before crossing the room and slipping under the blankets of the bed.

"So you collect them too?" she grinned, nodding toward his Starbucks cups collection on one of the shelves of the room, where there was the one with 'Hanna' written on top as well.

He bit his lip and shrugged.

"Looks like I do." he admitted then.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I figured you would've thought that I was saying that just to catch your attention, that it was a lie. I didn't want to appear like an idiot, I guess."

She laughed, shaking her head.

"You think too much. Anyway, it's cute that you collect them too. We have a lot in common." she said then.

He smiled shyly and nodded, still standing in the middle of the room.

"Get in." she whispered then, making some room for him on the mattress.

Caleb slowly walked to the bed and sat on the mattress next to her.

"Do you want me to turn it off?" he asked before lying down, pointing to the bedside lamp.

"Yeah."

He did what he was told to, then he finally lied down, pulling the blankets over their bodies. Hanna was there, lying on her side, and the dim light of the sunrise which filtered through the window, showed him her curious big eyes, which were staring at him. He couldn't help but repeat himself how beautiful she looked. He didn't exactly know how to move, he honestly wanted to touch her, to take her hand, but he wasn't sure if it was the case. But then, suddenly, Hanna made a move. She came closer to his body, moving over the mattress, and rested her head against his strong shoulder, wrapping her arm around his torso, still lying on her side. Caleb was still lying on his back, and when he felt Hanna cuddle closer to him, he heard a thousand voices into his head. However, he shook all of them off. He just lifted his arm to make her settle in a more comfortable way, then he wrapped it around her shoulders to hold her against his chest. Eventually, he placed a delicate kiss on the top of her head.

"Goodnight, baby." he whispered then, his lips still touching her hair.

 _Oh God, had he just said 'baby'?_

 _Shit_.

Hanna lifted her head just enough to make eye-contact with him, flashing him a smile before cuddling back against his body.

"Night." she then blew against his neck.

Caleb, feeling Hanna's breath on his skin, shivered. He breathed out, then started stroking her soft hair, paying attention not to mess it. He licked his lips and thought he could have actually stayed wide awake not to waste any second to watch her, to beam of her beauty. Then, he felt Hanna's lips open up against his neck in a lingering kiss.

Caleb felt another shiver, an intense one, this time more like a shock than a shiver. He sighed before rolling on his side as well, facing Hanna. He rested his forehead against hers and started stroking her cheeks, as she smiled up at him. That smile looked like the most beautiful thing to Caleb. Hanna, then, came even closer to him, placing one of her hands on his side, and restarted drawing light trails of kisses over the side of his face until she reached his neck, then she came all the way back up. Caleb chuckled, her lips were tickling him, smothering his half-laugh through her hair. She laughed as well into the crook of his neck, which was still kissing every now and then.

He closed her body into his arms, holding her tightly to him, feeling one of her hands slip underneath his undershirt, slowly rubbing circles on the bare skin of his back with her fingers. After a few minutes like that, he couldn't take it anymore, so he pulled away slightly and lifted her chin with his index finger. This time it was him who smiled first, and she obviously returned it. He moved a strand of her hair behind her left ear and then kissed the tip of his nose.

Honestly, for a second, he had had the intention to just kiss her instead, something he had understood he had been wanting to do for quite a long time, but somehow he felt like it wasn't the _right_ moment... _yet_. He didn't want her to think that he was taking advantage of the whole bed situation to try to seduce her or something. But only God knew how badly he would have wanted to.

After his gentle kiss on her nose, Caleb just rolled over again and returned to lie on his back, then he gently pulled Hanna's body —which was still lying on her side— closer to him. He kissed her forehead one last time before watching her finally close her eyes. Only then, he allowed himself to do the same.

* * *

 **A/N: Haha, I know I'm mean :P But that moment is not come...yet ;) Caleb is still way too shy to take the initiative! But I promise you won't be disappointed when something —** ** _maybe_** **— happens ;) Anyway, here's your new chapter :) I hope you appreciated how long it is and the cuteness in it :3 So, TWO Tyshley references for you to find in here! One is pretty easy, eheh ;) Let's see if you guess them correctly! And I know you guys didn't like the Miranda thing in the last chapter, so I know you're not gonna like the Jordan mention here either, but you don't have to worry too much about them ;) Anyway, thank you to everyone who reviewed last chapter, remember that I always appreciate when you leave me a comment, even if it's short :) Seriously, thank you so much! I'm glad you liked the guitar scene and that you're enjoying the story. So I'm curious to know what you guys think about this chapter... Let me know :):) I love you guys, until next time! xx -Atramea.**


	7. Chapter 7

Caleb woke up around eleven with a slight headache. The first thing he did once he opened his eyes, was lowering them to see that Hanna was still there, hugging his body, asleep, in his bed, beautiful as a goddess. Smiling at himself, he watched her sleeping for several minutes, playing with her hair but careful not to wake her up.

He turned to the bedside table and reached forward to grab his mobile with his free hand, only then noticing what time it was. He had obviously missed that morning's classes, but he wasn't really complaining. There also were several texts by Luke, telling him to wake up and get his ass to college, but he just rolled his eyes before placing his mobile back on the bedside table.

At some point, Hanna groaned and stretched herself against Caleb's body, burying her face into his chest. He chuckled, then she groaned again.

"What time is it?" she growled then, barely comprehensibly.

"Ten past eleven."

She huffed.

"Can we just stay in bed all day?" she groaned then.

"I like where your head's at." he smiled.

"Didn't you have class this morning?"

"Well... I did. But looks like I didn't go."

She laughed at that.

"So, how did you sleep?" Caleb asked.

"Very good, even if now I would really enjoy a shower..." she mumbled against his neck.

"You can take it. You know where the bathroom is."

"Yeah, well... In five minutes, maybe."

This time it was him who laughed. Then, he rubbed her back and kissed her forehead.

"Good morning, by the way." he whispered then.

"Yeah, sorry... Good morning, Philly boy." she replied, lifting her head and smiling up at him.

He smiled back, stroking her hair.

"Last night was cool, wasn't it?" she asked as she settled back down on his chest.

"Yeah, it was fun. We should do it again."

"Yeah, we sure will. However, I'm glad I forgot the keys."

He laughed at that.

"You are?" he added.

"Yup." she smirked, even though he couldn't see her.

Before he could think about something to say, she suddenly slipped out of bed.

"Where are you going?" he asked, his eyes inhevitably dropping to her barely covered butt.

"Shower!" she called as she walked out of the room.

He bit his lip and shook his head, staying in bed a few minutes more. Then he finally got up, suddenly feeling in a very good mood. He walked to the kitchen and started making breakfast, but at some point the doorbell rang. Caleb's head whipped around to turn to the door. He went to open and rolled his eyes when he saw Luke, Remy and Miranda standing there.

"Dude." Luke greeted him, stepping into the apartment.

Remy and Miranda did the same, and Caleb sighed as he closed the door.

"Look, guys, I slept in because last night I got home very late. I don't need any dressing-down for not coming to class this morning." he added then.

"It's not about that, Caleb. We just stopped to give you some notes so you can catch up." Miranda said smiling, rummaging through her bag, probably looking for her notebook.

"Oh, that's good, thanks." Caleb said in advance.

"What are you doing half-naked by the way?" Luke laughed.

"Don't stress me out, dude. I just got up." Caleb snorted, stretching his neck.

"And you're cooking breakfast?" Remy asked.

"So what, I can't cook breakfast?" Caleb argued, letting out a short yawn.

Remy raised her hands in defence, then Miranda finally found her notebook and handed it to Caleb.

"You can give it back to me later, don't worry." she smiled at him.

"Thanks, Miranda." Caleb replied, taking it from her.

"Caleb, can I use the towel—" Hanna began, entering the room and stopping on her tracks once she saw he had company.

She blushed realizing she only had her underwear and Caleb's shirt on and three strangers were staring at her — one of them was even a guy. Luke raised his eyebrows and turned to look at Caleb, who looked a little taken aback by the whole situation.

"Hi, guys, I... Uhm, I'm sorry." Hanna stuttered, not quite sure about what to do.

"No, Han... Uhm, guys, this is Hanna, my colleague from the bar. Hanna, meet Luke, Remy and Miranda, my three bestfriends. We go to college together." Caleb quickly introduced.

"Oh... It's nice to meet you all." Hanna smiled shyly, pulling Caleb's shirt down in order to cover her legs as much as possible.

"Hi, I'm Luke." Luke smiled slightly, awkwardly holding his hand out to her.

Hanna seemed to appreciate, though, approaching him and giving him a small smile before shaking his hand and repeating her name. Remy did the same of her boyfriend, then only Miranda was left. She eventually shook Hanna's hand too, even though Hanna could tell she was kind of annoyed.

"So, uhm... I guess we can leave now. See you later, man. Hanna, it was a pleasure." Luke concluded, not wanting to disturb any longer.

"Likewise." Hanna smiled nervously.

"Thanks, guys. I'll see you later." Caleb told them, smiling as he walked them to the door and then closed it behind their backs.

"Caleb, I'm so sorry, I didn't know your friends were here, I—" Hanna began ranting, but he turned around and smiled before interrupting her.

"Han, don't worry. It's fine, nothing happened. I should have warned you that they were here though, I mean, maybe you felt awkward wearing only that in front of people you didn't know. But everything's okay, relax."

"Are you sure? I mean, the shorter girl kind of glared at me, is she your ex?" Hanna asked, referring to Miranda.

Caleb laughed slightly, approaching her and putting his hands on her shoulders.

"No, she isn't. Now stop worrying and come have breakfast, your shower can wait." he added.

"You made breakfast?"

"Of course I did. What we had at five in the morning doesn't actually count." he grinned.

"Wow, you're treating me pretty well."

"Oh, you know, it doesn't happen often that a girl stays the night, so... I guess I'm just trying to make a good impression on her, at least the morning after." he joked.

Hanna laughed, sitting at the table as he brought their scrambled eggs.

"God, this looks delicious." she commented.

"Hopefully it also is." he replied, sitting down himself.

They ate in a comfortable silence, and Hanna complimented him because the eggs were actually really good. As he put the empty dishes in the sink, she spoke again.

"Do you think your friends thought that we... You know..."

Caleb chuckled, walking back to her before sitting on the table, facing her.

"Well, it was pretty deducible that you slept over. And, I mean, you appeared in the doorway wearing just that amazing shirt of mine." he shrugged then, smiling and sounding like it wasn't a big deal.

She just nodded, silent, and Caleb noticed something was bugging her.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah, sorry."

He wasn't convinced, so he went on.

"Look, I'm gonna tell them that it didn't happen... _that_ between us, okay? But, seriously, why are you so worried about it? I mean, you shouldn't care that much, you're not one who cares about what people thinks, right?"

"Yeah, yeah... Just... You know, they're not just _other people_. I mean, they're your friends. I would've liked to be introduced to them under other circumstances. And... I don't know, I feel like they didn't like me."

He rolled his eyes slightly before replying.

"Han, if you're talking about Miranda, well, I'm pretty sure that she wouldn't like any girl at all around me."

"And why is that?"

"Well... It's been years that she has this huge crush on me. We were still in school, this story never really got to an end, not even when I started dating Samara, my ex, who is even her friend. So don't worry about that."

Hanna smiled slightly.

"Aw, that's cute. It's a very long time." she said then.

He rolled his eyes again.

"She should get over that, though." he muttered.

"You don't want to—"

"No. Luke and Remy are already pressing me enough. I just wanna stay friends with her, that's it." he cut her off.

"Okay, Philly boy, whatever." she laughed, standing up from her seat.

He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Can I take my shower now?" she asked.

Caleb bit his lower lip as he caressed her whole body with a quick glance, then tilted his head to the side.

"Of course you can. And yes, you can use whichever towel in the third drawer, they're all clean." he smirked then.

"Thank you." she smiled at him, pressing a quick kiss on his cheek before heading to the bathroom.

Once she left the room, he sighed at himself.

* * *

While she was taking a shower, Caleb decided it was probably better to get dressed. He walked to his room and smiled at himself once he saw the still unmade bed, thinking back to the few hours he had spent there holding Hanna into his arms. Then, he turned to his closet and pulled out a green hoodie and a pair of blue jeans, along with his green All Stars. He put the jeans on first, then he took off his undershirt to slip into his hoodie, but before he could do it, Hanna entered the room —fully dressed with her clothes from the previous night, much to his dismay—. He didn't miss the look of surprise —maybe appreciation too— on her face as soon as she realized that his upper half was naked. After all, he had worn an undershirt for the whole freaking night. Yes, Caleb wasn't one of those guys obsessed with gym, at all, but he actually had a nice body.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure you once said you weren't a guy obsessed with shape, diet and shit, but, hey... Look at you." she said after a second of absolute silence.

Caleb chuckled, scratching the top of his head.

"Never been one of those, I promise." he added then.

Then he noticed she was holding his shirt in her hand and, after a moment, she handed it to him.

"I think this is yours." she smiled then.

He laughed, shaking his head before replying.

"I don't want it back. I told you, it's become too small for me. Just keep it."

"But it's one of your favorites..." she raised her eyebrows.

"That's why I want you to keep it."

Hanna stared at him for a moment, smiling.

"Caleb, I... Thank you. Thank you for everything. For making me stay the night, for the way you welcomed me, for breakfast, for this shirt, and... Well, everything else."

He smiled back.

"It's fine. I'm actually happy you stayed." he said then.

"Yeah, it was nice sleeping with you. I mean, _just_ sleeping and...cuddling a little, you know." she quickly replied, blushing slightly and nervously running a hand through her hair.

He laughed, finally putting his hoodie on.

"I agree with you. It was really nice. You can stay whenever you want. You know... I'm glad you forgot the keys too." he smiled then, smoothing the piece of clothing just put on.

She smiled back and they both stared at each other for a long moment. The intimate moment was abruptly broken by Hanna's phone ringing, though, which was still on Caleb's nightstand.

"Oh, sorry." Hanna mumbled as she walked to the nightstand. "Hello?" she picked up.

Caleb shoved his hands into the pocket of his jeans, not sure if he had to give her privacy or just stay there not to appear rude leaving her like that.

"Hey... No, uhm, I'm with a friend right now, actually..." she murmured through the speaker.

 _A friend, yeah...of course._

"Sure, I'll just see you later... Bye." she concluded her phone call, placing her mobile back on the nightstand.

"Is everything okay?" he asked casually.

"Uh... Yeah, yeah."

He tilted his head to the side.

"Anyone special?" he asked, feeling worried about her upcoming answer.

She shook her head quickly.

"Oh, no. Quite frankly, I'm not up for any relationship, at the moment." she said then.

Caleb didn't know whether to be happy or not about that.

"And why is that?" he asked again, intrigued.

"You know I'm a free spirit." she grinned.

"So... Not to be nosey, but... That Jordan guy Jason mentioned last night—"

"We're just friends. Jason happens to see things which don't exist." she cut him off.

He chuckled, nodding, realizing he was actually relieved to hear that.

"Alright, so... What do you want to do now? I mean, we could go for a walk, or... I don't know, if you don't have any plans." he said then.

"Oh, sure. A walk sounds great. But no more food, please." she replied, smiling at the end.

"Alright." he grinned.

"Oh, actually no, wait. Can you play something for me before we go?"

Caleb turned around and saw that she was smiling widely and pointing to his guitar, which was leaning against the side of his closet. He grinned at her.

"Your wish is my command." he added.

* * *

After Caleb played a few songs with the guitar singing with Hanna, they were both walking down the streets of Los Angeles, around Caleb's neighborhood. Though it was pretty cold, so he had let her borrow one of his jackets to put it on her minidress. He had pulled the hood over his head, hands in his pockets as he made small talk with her.

"Why you never went to college, again?" he asked.

"Never actually had that desire, to be honest. I never liked studying. But, you know, I didn't want to keep living with my mom and dad, not because I don't love them, but just because I think I'd be a weight on them. I mean, I'm a big girl and they're starting to get old, so... I found a job and a new place to stay, that's it. And I'm pretty happy now, The Brew made me make a lot of new friends and everything, so... Here I am, young and independent."

"Makes sense."

"What about you? Computer Engineering, seriously?"

He smiled shyly, shrugging slightly.

"It's always intrigued me and now that I'm studying it, I have to admit it that it's pretty cool, indeed." he replied then.

"What about your family?"

"Oh, they're in Philly. But my mom and dad are no longer together. My mom got married again, though. So now I also have two little stepbrothers, James and Clay. James's twelve and Clay's nine."

She smiled at the thought of two mini versions of Caleb.

"You must have a lot of fun with them." she said then.

"You can totally say it. What about your family, instead? They're here in LA, right?"

"Yeah, they're here. I went to visit them quite often, they live not so far from our bar. But I don't have any siblings."

"Got it."

"Hey, can we sit down for a little? My legs need some rest." she asked, spotting a bench.

"Sure."

They proceeded to sit down, and when they leaned back against the backrest, Caleb casually rested his arm behind Hanna. The wind blew a little harder and her hair was suddenly messed up.

"Oh, fuck." she grunted, quickly fixing it with her hand.

He couldn't help but laugh slightly, so she turned to him and glared at him, even though she was half-smiling.

"What?" she laughed then.

Caleb was about to reply when he suddenly lost his words. He just stared at her, completely caught by her beauty. She looked so beautiful that he suddenly felt the strong desire of kissing her, just like a few hours earlier. But then he thought back to what she had said before leaving his apartment, that she wasn't up for any relationship, so he just sent the instinct to the back of his head. However, she was staring back at him, with this cute smile on her lips which he absolutely loved. Then she erupted into a loud laugh, resting her head on his shoulder.

"You're so cute, Rivers." she murmured then.

He mentally cursed himself for acting so idiot around her, then he sneaked his arm around her shoulders and pulled her to him, kissing the top of her head.

"You too, Marin." he whispered then.

They stayed like that for a couple of minutes, silent, Caleb occasionally stroking her hair, softly. At some point, though, a thought popped into his mind and he suddenly brought it up.

"Do you remember when we were in Ezra's back office at The Brew and you played the guitar?"

"Yeah."

"Well... Back then, you kind of told me that there was a time when you would've needed support but that no one really gave you. Then, this morning you said that you don't want any relationship, so... Is it for a guy? I mean... A guy from your past hurt you so bad?"

Hanna lifted her head from his shoulder and turned her position on the bench, stretching her legs on his lap and resting her elbow on the backrest of the bench, so that her hand could support her head as she looked up at Caleb.

"Not exactly." she replied then.

"Okay, look, if you don't wanna talk about it—"

"It was my dad, actually." she cut him off.

Caleb raised his eyebrows, waiting for her to continue, and she did.

"He cheated on my mom. It happened four years ago. My mom found out and... Well, it wasn't easy. Neither for her, nor for me. I would've never thought my dad capable of that, I had always thought he was utterly in love with my mom. Anyway, my mom kicked him out and... It was a very dark time. I closed myself in this huge invisible shield and I just..."

At that, Hanna stopped herself and rolled her eyes back, trying to hold back her tears. Caleb reached out and stroked her cheek softly, catching the few tears she eventually gave in.

"But it's over now. My mom and dad even got back together. But... I can't forget how bad those days were, and I also can't help but think that things will never be the way they were before in our family. It's like something is broken in the inside, you know? Like, you can't see it from the outside, but you can _feel_ it." she continued.

He nodded briefly, his hand still rubbing her cheek.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you cry." he whispered then, attempting a small smile.

"No, it's okay. _I'm_ sorry for being so dramatic."

"You're not dramatic, Han. You're _human_. Anyway, sometimes crying is a good thing. It helps."

She made a small smile and nodded at him, wiping a tear away from her own cheek.

"Come here." he whispered then, spreading his arms.

She buried her face into his chest as he closed his arms around her slightly shaking body. She cried softly against his hoodie, as he rubbed her back soothingly and kissed the top of her head. He couldn't help but think that her desire of independence and the free nature of her spirit were partly due to what had happened between her mom and dad, that it was part of the reason why she left her childhood home and her family and went to live on her own. However, he decided not to ask any further since it clearly was a delicate topic, he wad just glad to give her some kind of comfort like that.

"Thanks for opening up to me, by the way." he whispered when he felt she had calmed down.

She lifted her head and gave him a small smile.

"I know I can trust you." she replied simply.

He nodded and moved a strand of her hair off her face before wiping some mascara from her cheeks with tha pads of his thumbs.

"Oh my God, my make up is a mess, isn't it?" she immediately asked.

He chuckled before replying.

"Shut up. You look beautiful."

She flashed him a smile before burying her face into the crook of his neck, probably a little embarassed by his compliment. He chuckled again, restarting to stroke her hair.

"But I still don't get why you wouldn't want a relationship. Are you afraid to get hurt after seeing the way your dad acted with your mom?" he asked after a minute.

"No, it's not about that. I just... Commitment kind of scares me. I'm a girl who likes partying, drinking, dancing, having a lot of fun with a bunch of friends, girls and guys, and if I'd have a jealous boyfriend, well, we obviously would never work. You know, being free is just better." she mumbled.

"Oh, okay."

"Why all of this interest for my personal life, though?" she asked, and by the sound of her voice, she was stiffling a laugh.

"Just wanted to get to know you better. I mean, you were in my bed just this morning..." he grinned through her hair.

She laughed loudly and slapped his chest.

"C'mon, Philly boy, I need to stop by The Brew so Em can give me her keys and then I'll finally be able to get my ass home." she said then, suddenly escaping from his grasp.

He missed the contact with her body as soon as she got up, but he followed her immediately.

"You want to get rid of me, huh?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, don't be too sad. Guess what? Tonight we work together." she poked her tongue out at him.

He smirked at her, feeling a sudden wave of happiness at the thought of being with her again just a few hours later. She wasn't even gone yet and he already missed her, he was already looking forward to their work shift together.

 _What was that girl doing to him?_

* * *

Caleb pursed his lips as he knocked on the door of Miranda's apartment.

He had dropped Hanna off at The Brew so that Emily could give her the keys of her apartment, then he had come back to his place and copied the notes Miranda had given to him that morning, so now he was going to give her notebook back to her.

Miranda came to open the door, dressed in a singlet and some sweatpants. Caleb smiled, knowing she was doing yoga as she always did.

"Hey." he greeted her.

"Hi." Miranda replied, not sounding very excited.

He knew it probably was because she had seen him with a barely clothed Hanna that same morning in his apartment.

"Am I disturbing you?" he asked.

"No."

"Uh... Alright. I just came to give you this back." he said then, handing her the notebook.

"Yeah, right." she mumbled, taking it from his hands.

"Thank you for giving me your notes, by the way."

"You already thanked me at your place. It's fine, Caleb."

"Yeah, whatever. So, are you exercising?"

She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Caleb, what do you want?" she asked then.

He bit his bottom lip and scratched the back of his neck.

"Can I come in and talk to you for a sec?" he asked then.

She sighed but let him in, closing the door once he was inside. Then, she turned the TV off —which was obviously on the yoga channel— and gestured for him to sit on the couch. When he did so, she sat next to him, placing her notebook on the coffee table.

"So?" she asked then.

He took a deep breath before beginning to speak.

"Well... I wanted to say a couple of words about this morning... Yeah, about what you, Luke and Remy saw. Look, Hanna and I have nothing going on. She just stayed the night because we and the other guys from work spent the night together, but she forgot the keys of her apartment, so... She slept at mine. But it's not like we did something, you know. We're not together, but of course I care about her, that's why I gave her a place where to sleep. That's it."

Miranda looked down for a moment before lifting her gaze back to him.

"Why are you giving me explanations?" she asked then.

Caleb raised his eyebrows as though it was obvious.

"Well, you know, I... I don't want you to feel bad about it. I mean, there's actually no reason to feel like that in the first place, given that Hanna and I—" he replied, but she cut her off.

"Caleb, I know how you feel about the two of us. Look, it's okay, you don't have to explain me anything if I see you with some girl like it happened this morning. You're not taken, you have your life and you can do whatever you want. And I'm not your girlfriend, right?"

He sighed.

"Right, but I'm sorry if you still... You know, think about me and you in _that_ sense. Even if I'm not up for that, well, I'm sorry if some kind of things make you feel bad... If _I_ make you feel bad. I care a lot about you, I've known you for ages, and I just don't want you to feel like shit. So just so you know, I'm not with Hanna or anyone right now. And maybe it's the best thing at the moment, you know. After all, Samara and I broke up just a month ago and, with college and the new job, what I need right now is probably just... _This_." he said then.

"Okay." she murmured.

"Okay." he echoed, motioning a smile.

They stared at each other for a second before Caleb stood up and decided it was time to leave.

"So... I'll see you later at class. And thanks again for the notes." he smiled at her.

Miranda stood up as well, smiling as she walked him to the door.

"You're welcome. See you later." she said then.

"Bye."

"Bye."

* * *

 **A/N: Hi! So, first of all, thank you so much for all the reviews you left to last chapter :) I'm glad you liked it that much, especially the bed scene! And I knew y'all would recognize the Led Zeppelin shirt haha ;) But congratulations to Zoey because she was the only one who guessed both of the references... The second one was them dancing like Tyler and Ashley did in San Diego last summer when they went there for the MTV Fandom Awards...there was a video of them, you could see this guy a little too happy with a glass in his hand close to Ash, so Tyler pulled her closer to him and she hugged him laughing :) So, about this chapter... So much Haleb, so I guess it's a good one! I also hope you enjoyed the awkward meeting Hanna had with Caleb's friends :D I don't think there's any Tyshley reference in this one, btw. Another thing, anyone who has any suggestion for this story can obviously tell me :) I already wrote several chapters after this, but I could still use some of your ideas ;) I also understand that some of you could see Tyshley suit better in this story, but it's still a Haleb story. However, you're free to picture them however you want ;) I think that's all for now :) Let me know what you guys think about this chapter! Next one's gonna be quite interesting :P Love! xx -Atramea.**


	8. Chapter 8

Later that same day, Caleb found himself at college. He had a few classes in the afternoon, and since he had already skipped that morning's ones, he knew it was better to be there at least then.

During a break, he went with Luke to grab some coffee at the machine in one of the hallways, and as Caleb suspected, Luke brought up a question about what he had seen that same morning.

"So... You and your colleague, man?" Luke raised an eyebrow as he waited for his coffee.

Caleb rolled his eyes, leaning against the machine.

"She just slept at my place. We haven't had sex." he muttered then.

"Oh, c'mon, man... She was almost naked, she only had one of your shirts on, which I'm pretty sure is also one of your favorites, plus I'm not stupid... Your couch didn't look like you had spent the night lying there."

"Uhm, well... That's because we both slept in my bed."

"Oh... Right. So you were in bed with that hot piece of ass and nothing happened?"

"It's the truth, okay? We didn't even kiss, dude. Anyway, watch your tongue... I'm pretty sure you also have a girlfriend."

Luke chuckled and shook his head.

"See? You're even jealous of her!" he added.

Caleb snorted and threw his empty paper cup in the near bin.

"Look, man... I like her, okay? _A lot_ , to be honest. But I swear nothing happened...yet. And, you know, I don't want to force things right now. I like what we have at the moment, whatever it is." he confessed then.

"Alright, alright... But looks like you're on the right way." Luke winked at him.

Caleb rolled his eyes again, even though now there was a small smile on his face. Then, his mobile buzzed from inside the pocket of his jeans, so he pulled it out. The small smile he had turned into a huge one when he saw it was a text from Hanna.

 _Miss u. Want 2 be with u :(_

He bit his bottom lip, reading her words over and over again.

"Earth to Caleb!" Luke laughed, knowing that was about Hanna.

 _Miss u too... But midnight's not so far x_

After typing his reply, Caleb looked up at Luke and grinned.

"So... We should get back to class, shouldn't we?" he added, nodding down the hallway.

Luke smirked and shook his head, quickly drinking his coffee before throwing his paper cup in the bin and following Caleb down the hallway.

* * *

A few minutes before midnight, Caleb was finally entering The Brew for his shift. Walking inside, he noticed Hanna already there, next to Toby. Spencer was probably already gone, and his male coworker was waiting for him so that he could leave as well.

"Dude!" Toby grinned.

"Hey, guys." Caleb grinned back, quickly walking to where the pair was standing behind the counter.

Caleb hugged Toby first, patting his back twice as he flashed Hanna a smirk which she obviously returned, and then he finally walked to her. She hugged him tightly and he picked her up from the floor for a second to return her hug.

"Hi." she squealed happily, holding to him.

"Hi yourself." he laughed, spinning her around once before finally placing her back on her feet and giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"Well, I'll gladly let you work now." Toby said, quickly taking his apron off.

Caleb laughed as he put his own apron on, then he bumped Toby's fist.

"See ya, guys... Have a nice night." the guy said, giving the pair a wink.

"Night, Tobes!" Hanna called out.

"Goodnight, bro." Caleb concluded.

"So, where did you put my shirt?" Caleb asked Hanna a little later, as she served a guy his cocktail.

"In my closet, of course." she replied, bobbing her head at the rhythm of the Sia's single currently playing in the bar.

"Did you find your keys, by the way?"

"Ugh, yes. They were on the coffee table."

"Of course they were." he laughed.

"What's so funny?" she whined.

He shrugged, sneaking an arm around her waist and pressing a quick kiss on her temple as he walked past her to reach the sink.

"You are." he replied then, winking at her behind his shoulder as he started washing a glass.

She smiled at him before leaning over the counter, studying the people into the bar that night. After a minute, a girl came up to the counter.

"Hi, what can I get you?" Hanna asked her, straightening herself up and giving her a smile.

"I, uh..." the girl began, and Hanna noticed she was looking over her shoulder, where Caleb was still busy washing some glasses.

Hanna raised an eyebrow.

"Can I please talk to him?" the girl asked.

"Oh, you know Caleb?"

"I..."

When he heard his name through the loud music, Caleb whipped his head around and looked over at the girl, who shot him a smile. He smiled back, quickly wiping his hands before walking to the counter, standing next to Hanna.

"Hi, what's up?" he asked.

"Hi." the girl smiled widely at him.

"Hi." Caleb repeated, furrowing an eyebrow in slight confusion.

He then turned to Hanna, hoping she would explain what the girl exactly wanted, and she shrugged.

"I thought you two knew each other, but now I guess you don't." she added.

"Oh, well... What can I do for you?" Caleb asked then, turning back to the customer.

The girl turned to Hanna and raised an eyebrow at her, then the blonde barmaid understood she had to leave them some kind of privacy, so she rolled her eyes and made herself busy at the sink. The girl, then, flashed Caleb another large smile.

"I'm Sydney." she said then, holding her hand out to him.

He shook it.

"Caleb." he said while doing it.

"You know, I... I was wondering when your shift is over."

"At eight in the morning." he replied, not really knowing what she was exactly asking him.

"Cool, and... Are you busy after you're done here?"

He paused for a moment. _Was that brunette flirting with him?_

"Well, I go to college. And tomorrow morning I have classes, so... Yes, I'll be busy." he replied.

"Right. Okay, well... Call me when you're free. I'm sure we could have some fun together." the brunette girl concluded, smiling seductively at him and sliding a small piece of paper over the counter.

And with that, she just walked away, sashaying in a definitely exaggerated way. Caleb chuckled at himself, picking up the piece of paper with a phone number written on it and noticing a small heart drawn at the end.

"So... What was that about?" Hanna asked, coming back to him.

He smirked and held up the piece of paper.

"Well... Looks like tonight's my lucky night." he joked then.

Hanna rolled her eyes.

"Pfff, these horny teenagers who just can't keep their legs closed..." she muttered then.

"Oh... Are you jealous, maybe?" he grinned, raising an eyebrow.

"What? I have no reason to be jealous."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive, because you're only mine." she smirked, going on her tiptoes to press a kiss on his cheek and then nibbling slighty at it.

Caleb froze for a second as she just confidently walked past him to talk with another customer just come to the counter like nothing happened, and he felt a sudden wave of electricity shake his body starting from his cheek.

* * *

A few hours later, around five in the morning, The Brew was almost emptied. Only a few people were inside, and between them there was still Sydney, the girl who had left his number to Caleb. He was standing behind the counter next to Hanna as she typed on her phone. Sydney was smiling over at Caleb as he tried not to give her much attention. Suddenly, Hanna was done with her phone and was nudging at him.

"She doesn't take her eyes off you." she told him, chuckling.

He sighed and rolled his eyes.

"I know." he muttered then.

"I have a feeling that she's gonna wait until it's eight and you're done just to see where you go."

"I don't really care. I mean, I appreciated the interest and everything and I laughed about the whole thing, but... It's just no."

"So you're not gonna call her or anything?"

"Hanna, she's a perfect stranger. And one night stands are not my thing."

She looked at him and pursed her lips.

"That's because you don't like her or what?" she asked then, staring up at him.

"She's pretty, I guess. Even if I like blondies better, but... It's not about that. I just don't like the idea of having sex just like that, with no feelings, you know. It sounds... Bad."

She stayed silent, as if she was processing his words. Then she straightened up and gave him a smile.

"You're such a good guy, Rivers. The woman you'll marry is one lucky woman." she winked at him.

"I guess so." he laughed.

"So... Are we gonna go get a frappuccino later?"

"As always." he grinned.

* * *

Sydney, at some point throughout night and morning, disappeared, so at eight 'o clock Hanna and Caleb just went to Starbucks with any sort of 'problem' on their way. After drinking their frappuccinos, they headed off and took a walk under the early morning sun. Caleb had put a black beanie on and Hanna had spent half of the walk telling him that she loved it, so at some point he let her wear it, loving how she looked with that, and he just pulled his hood up.

"So about that girl... What did you do with the note she gave you?" she asked out of the blue.

He laughed slightly, reaching out into the pocket of his jeans and pulled it out.

"There it is." he said then.

"You said you're not gonna call her, why did you keep it?"

"You're jealous, Marin." he smirked.

"I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"Oh, c'mon. I just don't think she's good for you."

"Oh yeah? And who would be good for me?" he smirked again at her, raising his eyebrows.

She just laughed.

"Well, you said you like blondies better, didn't you?" she shrugged before abruptly taking the piece of paper off his hands and starting to run away.

"Hey, give it back!" he exclaimed, starting to run after her.

She laughed, keeping to run, but his legs were longer and he ran definitely faster than her, so it wasn't long before he reached her. She suddenly found herself with her back pressed against the trunk of a tree, panting slightly as he trapped her, placing his open hands on either side of her, resting them against the bark. Then, he reached out and easily took the piece of paper off her right hand. She was grinning at him and he was someway grinning back.

"I said I'm not calling her, I don't need this. If I had it, it was just because I forgot it in my pocket." he said then, crumpling the note and then throwing it in the near bin.

She laughed slightly.

"You know, nowadays it's weird to find a guy who refuses the chance of a round of sex just because he doesn't have feelings for the girl." she murmured then, looping her arms around his neck, behind his hood.

Caleb froze again. They were extremely close this time, _dangerously_ close. She was slightly panting, her arms were around his neck, he could feel her hot breath against his lips... And now neither of them was smiling anymore. He suddenly let his head fall forward, resting his forehead against hers, which was partly covered by his beanie. He looked down at her lips, then back to her eyes.

"And it's weird that such a beautiful girl like you doesn't want to commit to anyone, because she would deserve to be happy." he whispered.

Hanna didn't seem annoyed a bit of their closure.

"I don't need a boyfriend to be happy." she replied quietly, still with her arms wrapped around his neck.

"Then what do you need?"

She shrugged slightly, and for a moment he swore he saw her eyes fall to his lips as well, and at that he felt a shiver run down his spine. Then they made eye-contact again, and he lost himself into her blue orbs as it always happened. He instinctively smiled again.

"What?" she whispered when she saw his pearled smile.

"It's just your eyes, they... They drive me crazy." he whispered back, even though he had no idea why they were talking that softly.

"Yeah?" she smiled.

"Yeah."

Then, he didn't know what exactly happened. His gestures just went automatically. He pursed his lips and moved his hands off the trunk of the tree to pull the beanie she was wearing slightly down, so that her eyes were now covered. She simply grinned at that, interlacing her own fingers behind his head. Then, his hands found their spot on each one of her cheeks, which he started rubbing softly.

He stared at her lips for an eternity. She didn't say a single word, nor did anything to protest or whatever. Their forehead were still pressed together, and Caleb's eyes were still glued to her pink lips, curved in that wonderful smile of hers. The tips of their noses bumped against each other as he moved his head slightly, still not really sure about what he was doing or about to do. And then, he realized he couldn't hold himself back any longer. Hell, he _had_ held himself back for too long already.

Slowly, he finally placed his lips on hers, closing them in the softest of the kisses when he felt the contact with hers. It was chaste, short, delicate but, to him, it felt like the best kiss he had ever given.

And then he pulled away, but stayed close to her, still with his forehead against hers and his hands on her cheeks, and even her arms were still wrapped around his neck. He watched as she pursed her lips, waiting to see if she would smile, but nothing. He panicked for a second, wondering if he had to apologize or something, but then she disconnected her hands from behind his head and moved them to his face, gripping the sides of his hood and pulling his face closer to hers by the garment.

Caleb closed his eyes when their lips were suddenly together again, and this time he distinctly felt Hanna _actually_ respond to the kiss. She opened her mouth slightly, catching his lower lip in between hers, as he slid his hands down her body until he rested them on her hips. She leaned back against the tree as he opened his mouth as well only to push his tongue in between her soft lips, and she didn't seem annoyed by that either. Their tongues touched each other for the first time, slowly at first, but then they gradually began fighting. Caleb finally tasted her after spending weeks and weeks just _imagining_ what she tasted like, and he wasn't disappointed at all. It was totally worth the wait. She tasted sweet, very sweet, and it wasn't because she had just had an extra-sugary frappuccino. She tasted just like the sweet and amazing girl she was. One of his hands moved upward to tangle in her hair as she tilted her head to the side to experiment a new angle for the kiss, and he did the same, tilting his head to the opposite side to ease her. They kept going like that for a few minutes, still leaning by the tree, forgetting about their surroundings and only focusing on their intense kiss.

And then he pulled away, forcing himself to let go of her delicious lips when he felt like it was perfect like that. His breath was slightly shallow, just like hers, and he bit his lower lip when he saw that she was pursing her lips. Then he suddenly realized that her eyes were still covered by his beanie, so he delicately pulled it back up, even though he was slightly concerned to see what kind of look she would give him as soon as their eyes would meet. But he smiled when he found out that she had her eyes still closed. She moved her hands slightly down, starting to play with the laces at each side of his hood as she finally opened her eyes. He squeezed her waist lightly, nervously smiling at her when they made eye-contact. And luckily for him, she smiled back.

"Uh, I... I'm sorry, I just... I wanted to do it when we were at my place, but... Well, actually, I... I had wanted to do it for a long time." Caleb stuttered.

"Hey... Why in the world are you apologizing?" she chuckled, thinking that he looked totally adorable right then.

He shrugged shyly, slightly embarrassed. Hanna smiled at him, still playing with the laces of his hood.

"You're a pretty good kisser, by the way." she said then.

He chuckled and shook his head, moving one of his hands up to pull a loose strand of her hair behind her ear.

"So are you, Marin." he whispered then.

She smirked and then threw herself into his arms, implicitely asking him to hug her. He gladly obeyed, holding her closer to his chest, kissing the top of her head through the beanie. She had wrapped her arms behind his lower back, resting the side of her head just under his shoulder as his arms were wrapped around her shoulders. He closed his eyes as he forgot about the whole world, feeling good just to be there with her.

He didn't know what that would mean, he knew that she had clearly said and repeated more than once that she didn't want to get involved with anyone, but, at least at the moment, he was happy. He wanted to kiss her, he had finally done that, and she had _not_ rejected him, plus she was currently into his arms. So, for now, that was _definitely_ enough.

* * *

He walked her back to her car, which was parked in front of The Brew, his arm never leaving its place around her shoulders. He just smiled and shoved his hands in his pockets when she leaned by the door of the driver seat and looked up at him. Then, she took his black beanie off her head and handed it to him, smirking.

"You know, I should probably stop stealing your clothes." she added.

"Why? You look way better than me with them." he grinned, accepting the beanie back.

"You're such a charmer." she rolled her eyes at him with a smile tugging on her lips.

He bit his lip and stared at her for a long moment before finally speaking.

"So... I was thinking..."

"What?" she asked when she heard a long pause from him.

He looked down at the beanie in his hands, licking his lips as he tried to find the right words, even though he was mentally cursing himself because he had a feeling he looked like an utter idiot everytime he was in front of her.

"Maybe you could come to my place and have dinner with me before coming to work tonight." he finally blurted out, looking back up at her.

She grinned at him, nodding.

"Yes?" he asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, sounds good. What time should I come over?"

"Uhm... Around eight, is that fine? Or—"

"Eight it is. See you there." she cut him off, smiling before cupping his face and pressing a big noisy kiss against his cheek.

He stood there as she turned around and quickly unlocked her car before climbing in. He watched her speed away, chewing on his lower lip as he processed everything that had happened in the last few hours. When her car disappeared from the view, he moved his eyes down to his beanie and smiled as he brought it up to his nose, breathing in the sweet scent of her shampoo.

* * *

 **A/N: I know I'm kind of late but hey, I guess this chapter could make it up for that :) I hope you like this shy and sweet version of Caleb who's all embarrassed in front of Hanna :) Sooo, thank you so much for the reviews, you guys are absolutely amazing! Please keep it up :) To answer some questions you guys asked, we're going to see something from Hanna's point of view too... I'm not telling you when though, it could be soon or not haha ;) But this story will focus especially on Caleb anyways :) Letting you know basically nothing about the way Hanna feels so far was clearly my intention, just to create some kind of mystery ;) I was also asked if I like other ships in PLL besides Haleb and I have to be honest, not really. But you're gonna see mentions of some of them later on this story, promise :) So, I hope you're gonna let me know your thoughts about this chapter, I'm really looking forward to reading them since something finally happened between Haleb :) On a side note, I'm happy that we're getting some Haleb back on the show as well. I missed them :) Enjoy the rest of your week! Love you! xx -Atramea.**


	9. Chapter 9

"Hey, Han!" Emily sang out as she entered her and Hanna's apartment.

Hanna lifted her head from where she was lying on the couch, trying to get some rest after her last night's shift. It was a little after four in the afternoon and Emily was back home after her own morning shift.

"Hey." the blonde replied before throwing her head back against the couch cushions.

"Tired?"

"As usual. How was work?"

"As usual." Emily chuckled as she took a seat on the couch next to her, so Hanna stretched her legs over her lap.

"Caleb and I kissed." the blonde suddenly blurted out, out of the blue.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa... What?" Emily exclaimed, widening her eyes at her roommate.

"I don't know, it sort of...happened." Hanna replied calmly, as if it wasn't a big deal.

"What about your rule not to get involved with anyone at the moment and to _never_ get involved with a colleague?"

The blonde sighed, running a hand through her hair.

"I still think that way. But Caleb is just... I'm not sure. He's different from the other guys. I... I kinda messed up." she muttered then.

"Well... He's nice. Maybe you should stop thinking and just give you guys a shot. Who knows... You guys actually look pretty good together." Emily smiled.

"I don't know, Em. C'mon, you know me. I never had a proper boyfriend-girlfriend relationship. And Caleb is such a good guy, I don't think he's acting like this around me just because he wants to have fun or get laid. He might have some serious intentions. So... I don't think we would work out, in the end."

"Well, let's see... Why did you kiss him?"

" _He_ kissed me."

"Whatever. But you responded to the kiss, right?"

Hanna rolled her eyes slightly before answering.

"Yeah."

"Well, then... Why did you respond to the kiss?"

The blonde took a deep breath as she sat up and then replied.

"Because I like him. I like how he acts around me, I like spending time with him, I like the way he makes me feel. I just like him. And then he took the perfect moment to kiss me. To be honest, he had already had plenty chances to do that, but... He had always acted respectful, never taking advantage of any kind of situation. Today, well, it was just the perfect moment. And... Yeah, we eventually kissed. I just felt like I wanted to kiss him back and so I did, that's it."

"Well... I knew it would happen, sooner or later. You guys were pretty close."

"Whatever, Em. You're still not helping." Hanna rolled her eyes again.

"What do you want me to say? Just see where it goes. Caleb is cute, and... Well... Yeah, he also has a pretty nice butt."

"Sorry?" Hanna raised an eyebrow.

"Chill, I have a boyfriend. But, well, Caleb's butt has been on everyone's mouth at The Brew lately. C'mon, we all have eyes, Han. Don't be too jealous." Emily laughed.

"Jesus, our bar is worse than a freaking soap opera. Aria sneaks to Ezra's office every chance she has to do God-knows-what while Jason desperately courts her, Toby drools behind Spencer everyday while she's almost engaged with someone else, you guys gossip over Caleb's butt—"

"While you two are always all over each other." Emily cut her off, smirking.

Hanna widened her eyes at her before throwing her a cushion, and Emily laughed.

"That's not true! We just kissed once!" the blonde protested then.

"Yeah, yeah... Whatever. Anyway, now that you and Caleb are in this undefined situation... What about Jordan?"

Hanna sighed.

"He's cute and everything too, but... He's kind of harassing, Em. Plus, despite he's always calling and texting me, we never went over the friend zone, well, to be honest, I never really wanted to, so..." she replied then.

"So you like Caleb more than him?"

"Uh... Maybe." Hanna shrugged.

"Well... Tonight you work with him, right?"

"Actually, he invited me to have dinner at his place first. Then I guess we'll go to work together."

"And you said yes?" Emily raised her eyebrows suggestively.

Hanna nodded.

"It's a date!" her friend laughed then.

"Em, chill. Caleb and I are always hanging out together, it's no big news." the blonde rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, but this is your first date after you guys kissed. Plus, I mean... At his place?"

"I've already been there when I had forgotten the keys of our place inside, remember? I mean, I even slept in his bed cuddled up to him."

"What? Why didn't you tell me? I thought he had slept on the couch!"

"Well, no. He wanted to at first, but I told him it wasn't a problem, so... We were in the same bed. _But_ , besides innocent cuddles, nothing happened."

"Whatever, it happened today anyways."

Hanna sighed deeply.

"I don't know, Em. I even told him I didn't want a relationship before anything happened, and now... It's all so weird..." she muttered then.

"C'mon, Han, stop being so thoughtful. Just go, have dinner with him tonight and do whatever you feel like doing. Don't be always _'what does this mean?'_ and stuff... You ask yourself too many questions, in my opinion. I feel like Caleb would be great for you. And, honestly, I never liked Jordan too much. He's too clingy to you."

Hanna laughed before nodding.

"Alright, I guess I'll take your advice." she added then, smiling slightly.

* * *

A little before eight that same day, Caleb was pacing up and down the hallway of his apartment. It had been a very long time since he had felt this way for a girl. He was wondering if Hanna would like what he had chosen for dinner, if she would appreciate the red wine he had, if he was dressed appropriately for a dinner with her. He always tried to follow the rule 'not too elegant, not too casual', but he always feared he just wasn't wearing the right things. He had looked at his reflection in the mirror at least seven times, and every damn time he found that something was wrong with him. But then he looked at his watch and knew it was too late to change anything. Hanna would be there any time by now.

A knock finally came against his door. Caleb took a deep breath and smoothed his blue buttoned shirt as he walked to the door, putting on the best of his smiles before finally opening. And there stood Hanna, dressed in a cute white blouse and a dark skirt.

"Hey." she smiled at him through her thick eyelashes.

"Hey." he smiled back.

They just stared at each other for a second before he finally came back to his senses. He cleared his throat before making her some room to step in.

"Come in." he added.

"Thanks." she mumbled as she walked inside.

He closed the door behind her back before looking back at her, slowly approaching her. Then, he engulfed her body in a tight hug, nuzzling his head through her hair as she returned the hug placing her hands on his back.

"How are you?" he whispered then, still holding her.

"I'm good. What about you?"

"Everything okay."

They pulled away from the hug and Caleb printed a soft kiss on her forehead before gesturing toward the table of the living room.

"Have a seat. I just have to make sure that our steaks are not burning or something." he grinned.

She laughed slightly as she took a set at the already perfectly set table, watching Caleb walk to the kitchen. Her eyes automatically dropped to his butt, thinking back to the conversation she had had with Emily just a few hours earlier. He came back smiling slightly, taking a seat at the table as well.

"They're almost ready." he announced, pouring himself and her a glass of wine.

"Thanks." she smiled as she lifted her glass.

"So... Was Emily disappointed that I stole you from her for dinner?"

"You're doing her a favor, believe me. She's making Ben come over, of course. I guess they will have some privacy tonight." Hanna rolled her eyes slightly, even though she was smiling.

Caleb laughed after taking a sip of his wine.

"Well, then... I should invite you more often." he teased then.

She just laughed at that, then he stood up and finally went to take their steaks so that they could start eating.

* * *

They had a pretty quiet dinner, talking about light-hearted topics, mostly related to The Brew, then Caleb disappeared to take the dishes to the dishwasher. He left both of their glasses there, so that they could drink also later. When he came back, he smiled at her and nodded toward the couch.

"Wanna watch a movie or something? I have Netflix too." he suggested, shrugging slightly.

"Sure." she smiled back, standing up from her seat and taking her glass with her as she moved to the couch.

Caleb took his glass as well along with the bottle of wine and joined her on the couch, placing the things he was carrying on the coffee table across them. He smiled noticing Hanna had already turned the TV on and was choosing what to watch. When she was finally happy, she put the remoter on the coffee table and leaned back against the couch. He stretched his feet and crossed them over the coffee table, then put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to him, encouraging her to cuddle into his side and rest her head on his shoulder, and she happily obliged. He didn't even know what they were watching, he was just happy to be with her.

And she was happy too. Being that close to him allowed her to get intoxicated by his cologne that she had always liked, and the feeling of his arm safely wrapped around her made her feel so good, as if she was protected from all the evil of the world. She didn't pay much attention to the movie, especially when his hand moved to the back of her neck, rubbing it so softly that Hanna thought she was eventually going to fall asleep under his relaxing touch. She felt _so_ good when she was with him, she just couldn't deny it.

"Hey... Don't tell me that you're sleeping." he chuckled at some point.

Hanna wasn't sure whether she had actually been in the world of dreams for a moment or not, however she looked up at him and shook her head vigorously.

"You're wrong." she replied with decision.

He laughed, hearing her voice raspy and seeing her eyes still half-closed.

"Am I?" he asked then, raising her eyebrows.

Hanna huffed and rolled her eyes before cuddling back up to him, as he laughed again. Then, he pressed a soft kiss on the top of her head as she absent-mindedly started playing with one of the buttons of his shirt.

"I like your shirt." she whispered out of the blue.

"Thanks. Whoa, wait... Wanna steal this too?" he replied, joking.

"Hey! I haven't stolen anything. You gave me that shirt." she argued, chuckling.

He chuckled as well and looked down at her just as she looked up at him. He then bumped his nose against hers and she grinned at him, her eyes dropping to his lips for a second before returning to his eyes. And then, this time, it was her the one who took the initiative. She cupped his face in between her palms and brought it closer to hers, making their lips meet in a soft kiss. He pulled her closer using the arm of his which was still hooked around her shoulders, resting his free hand on her bare knee. The kiss was wet but gentle and slow, just like their first, and when they pulled away, Hanna buried her face in the crook of his neck, with her eyes still closed, implicitely asking him to hold her, which he did.

"Mmm... Your lips taste like a dessert." he whispered then, nuzzling his nose through her hair.

She chuckled against his neck.

"Yeah? What kind of dessert?" she asked then.

"Well... They're sweet. They taste good, like... You know, just think of your favorite dessert. That's how your lips taste like."

She laughed again. Caleb was seriously the sweetest. Then, she pressed a soft kiss against his neck before replying.

"You're so cute, Rivers."

"I know. You told me a thousand times." he chuckled.

"Well, that's because you are."

"So are you."

He then moved his head lower and searched for her lips once again. Hanna placed her hand on his cheek and gladly merged her lips with his again, but just as his tongue touched hers, her phone began ringing from her purse. Caleb moaned in disapproval as she pulled away.

"Sorry." she bit her lip, turning around and rummaging through her purse, which was placed at the end of the couch.

He leaned back against the couch and smiled looking at her. He had no idea about what they were doing, what those kisses meant or anything, but he really felt good.

Hanna finally found her phone into her purse and pulled it out, rolling her eyes when she was who the caller was.

Jordan.

Hanna had met Jordan a month or so earlier, pretty much when she had met Caleb. He was one of Jason's thousand friends. He had basically started courting her right away, from the same night Jason introduced one to the other. He was a good-looking guy, even though he was already about to turn thirty —Aria had once told Hanna that, besides his undeniable huge nose, he also had some obvious wrinkles on his forehead and she had to admit that she wasn't completely wrong—, so he was slightly older than Hanna. He was also sweet, but as Emily had told Hanna, he was pretty clingy, and sometimes Hanna felt kind of smothered by him. Jason was basically trying to put them together, being friend with Jordan and aware of how much he liked her. At first, Hanna had said she had no problem going out with Jordan and talk to him by phone since she was free and a guy courting her was always a nice thing, but she was still convinced that she didn't want to commit. She didn't want to give Jordan false hopes so she had even told her the way she was feeling about relationships, but he hadn't given up, at all. He definitely wanted to win her over, telling her that a slightly older guy like him was exactly what she needed to change her way of thinking about relationships and commitment.

Though, the only one who had made her question those things for a slight moment, had been Caleb, not Jordan.

"Hello?" Hanna picked up.

"Han, hey." Jordan replied from the other line.

"Hey... What's up?"

"Oh, I was just wondering if you were free. I'm in town and I have a few spare hours. I was thinking we could go somewhere nice before you go to work."

"I'm sorry, Joe, I can't. I'm... I'm kind of... _busy_ right now." Hanna replied.

Well, at least this time she hadn't said she was with _a friend_.

"Yeah, okay... Don't worry, it's fine. Sorry for disturbing. Maybe next time?" Jordan continued.

"Okay. Have a good night."

"You too, beautiful. Bye."

"Bye."

Hanna then hung up and shoved her phone back into her purse before turning back to Caleb, who was looking at her with an eyebrow raised.

"What?" she asked as she moved closer to him on the couch.

"Was that the Jordan guy Jason mentioned the other night?"

Hanna rolled her eyes as she lied down on the couch and rested her head on his lap, looking up at him.

"Yeah, it was him." she finally admitted, casually taking one of his hands and starting to play with his fingers.

"What did he want?"

She grinned at that.

"Are you jealous?" she asked back.

This time it was Caleb who rolled his eyes. Hanna was about to say something else, but he suddenly moved his free hand to her belly, starting to tickle her. She began shrieking, trying to kick him and free herself from his grasp, but he easily didn't let her.

"What if I was?" he asked then, pressing his nose against hers.

She stopped laughing and stared up at him, chewing on her lower lip as he placed a lingering kiss on her forehead.

"I wouldn't mind, but I don't see why you should be." she shrugged then.

He smirked.

"Right, because you're only mine." he added cockily.

She laughed and rolled her eyes slightly.

"It wasn't what I meant." she said.

"Yeah, well, I'm pretty sure you said the same thing about me last night at work."

"What did I say?"

"You said that I'm only yours."

"I did?"

"Yeah, because you were jealous of Sydney."

"You remember her name?" she scoffed.

"See? If someone's jealous in here, that would not be me." he teased before blowing a raspberry into her neck.

Hanna squealed loudly at that and Caleb laughed.

"You just gave me a... How is that called?" she asked after that, pointing at her neck.

"A raspberry. I raspberried your neck." he smirked before blowing another one against her neck.

"Caleb! You need to stop!" she shrieked.

"Stop doing what?" he asked her.

"Making me laugh this much. My stomach hurts because of laughing."

"Okay, well... I think I can do that."

And in a matter of seconds, his lips were back against hers, his tongue making its way into her mouth as one of his hands rested on her hipbone, holding her in place. Hanna gasped into the kiss but responded to it, tangling a hand through his hair and pushing his head harder against hers. It was wet, sloppy and messy, and left them both with heavy breathing once he pulled away, bringing a hand to the back of his own neck, rubbing it.

"Look... I'd keep going for hours, don't get me wrong, but I'm pretty uncomfortable bent like this." he winced, slightly chuckling.

She laughed and straightened herself up, straddling him as he threw his head back against the couch cushions, settling his hands on her hips as she smiled down at him. He raised an eyebrow at her, biting his lower lip and waiting for her next move. She rested her forehead against his and cupped his face, stroking his cheeks. They just stared at each other for a long time, silently.

"You're so beautiful..." he whispered softly, nudging his nose against hers.

Hanna smiled at him again before leaning forward and joining their mouths in another deep kiss. Caleb slipped both of his hands underneath her blouse, feeling the softness of the skin of her back under his fingertips. She slightly shuddered at the contact and absent-mindedly rolled her hips forward, causing him to moan into her mouth as their tongues began dancing together. Caleb was a little delivered by the moment when he decided to move his mouth away from hers only to kiss down her jawline and neck, where he drew a few open-mouthed kisses, wanting to savour her skin. She tilted her head back and brought one of her hands through his hair, closing her eyes and arching her back. However, he realized that his body was starting to react to the gorgeous blonde on his lap, to her fleshy lips, her experienced tongue and her soft skin, and he knew he had to stop before it was too late. He reluctantly pulled away and looked at her, who still had her eyes closed and looked a little flushed. He smirked and moved his hands back to her hips before kissing the tip of her nose softly.

"I think we should start getting ready for work." he eventually whispered.

Hanna opened her eyes only to roll them, groaning in disappointment as she moved her hands to his shoulders.

"Can't we just skip it?" she huffed then, rubbing his nerves.

" _Skip_?" he quoted her, chuckling.

"Yeah, let's just go to bed."

He raised his eyebrows at that, not sure about the real meaning of her statement. She immediately shook her head at him with a sly grin before punctualizing.

" _Just_ to cuddle and sleep, Rivers."

He smiled and leaned up to press a chaste kiss to her lips.

"Yeah, well... I'd love that, but I think that we should seriously head out. Toby would kill me, otherwise. And I'm sure you won't let that happen, right?" he said then.

"Absolutely not. What would I do without my cute Philly boy?" she smirked as she got off his lap and then stood up, smoothing her blouse.

He grinned up at her and stood up too.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey guys! Sorry for the long wait! I hope you enjoyed the chapter, though :) Finally you got to see something from Hanna's point of view and you also found something out about Jordan! I'm so so glad you liked that much the kiss of last chapter :) I hope the dinner was cute to read as well, even though I know you guys were probably hoping for something more than making out... Just give it some time ;) Yes, I could also think about switching the rating to M in the future, but for now it's safe haha :D So, TWO Tyshley references for you to find in this chapter... One is uber easy — and uber cute, lol! Anyway, I want to sincerely thank each one of you guys for all of your lovely reviews, it's truly a pleasure for me to read them :) I hope you'll keep letting me know what you guys think! And also if you want to see something happen ;) On a side note... Can't wait for next Tuesday's PLL summer finale! ...If you know what I mean, haha ;) Hope to hear from you! Love you guys! xx -Atramea.**


	10. Chapter 10

The next week, on Sunday night, The Brew's closing day, Hanna went out with her friends, and Jordan joined the group too. She tried to avoid him for the whole night, not really wanting to be alone with him, but after a few hours in a pub, just as she went outside to smoke a cigarette, he followed her right away.

"Hey, Hanna Marin." he smirked as he came up by her side.

She mentally sighed as soon as she saw him, but she smiled at him anyways.

"Hey, Jordan Hobart." she said then.

"So... You were pretty busy this week, huh?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, everytime I happened to be in town these days and I called you, you were always busy, even if it wasn't your time of working. I mean, whether you actually had things to do or you were just making up excuses not to see me."

Hanna really sighed this time. She had basically spent all of her free time of the week chilling with Caleb at his place, besides the hours they already spent together at work. And Jordan had called her three times that week, always while she was snuggling with Caleb. Of course she had preferred to stay with Caleb instead of going out to meet Jordan.

"Yeah, well... It was a hectic week, indeed." she mumbled then, shrugging.

"You aren't dating anyone, are you?" Jordan half-laughed.

"No!" Hanna exclaimed as if it was the most impossible thing in the world.

Actually, it kind of was. Hanna Marin didn't date. What she currently had with Caleb was something pretty weird, but she had honestly never thought, not even for a second, to connect the word 'boyfriend' to Caleb. She didn't want relationships. No, Hanna Marin definitely didn't date.

Then what did she have with Caleb?

The truth was that she didn't know. She had absolutely no idea, just like him. They were spending a lot of time together, enjoying doing everything and nothing, from watching a movie to eat takeaway and just snuggle on his uncomfortable couch. And having lots of make out sessions too, of course. But they never even got close to something more than making out... _yet_.

"Yeah, I was just asking. I mean, everyone knows that Hanna Marin doesn't date. Anyway, I will make you change your mind. You'll be mine, someday." Jordan grinned at her.

Hanna raised her eyebrows at him before replying.

"I wouldn't be so sure."

"Well, you should give me a chance, though. Or maybe you just don't give me a chance before you're afraid to fall for me?"

She chuckled at that.

"Fly down, Joe." she added, breathing out some smoke and rolling her eyes at him.

"I will, but you have to give me a chance, at least. One date, c'mon. If you don't want to see me after that, then I promise I'll leave you alone. But give it a shot. Please." he smirked, making a pouty face at her.

Hanna laughed. She had to recognize that he was cute sometimes. After all, she didn't have a commitment with Caleb and he was perfectly aware of that, and one time out with Jordan could be actually fun. And then, _maybe_ , Jordan would actually and finally understand that she wasn't going to date him anyways.

"Alright, one date." she finally decided, rolling her eyes slightly.

"Yes!" he exclaimed, making a small happy dance as she laughed.

He then approached her and planted a big sloppy kiss on her cheek.

"You'll come around, Hanna Marin. I promise." he told her then, winking as he walked away.

* * *

At the same time, Caleb was hanging out with his friends at a pub. Remy, Miranda and some other girls were sitting at a table while he and Luke were at the counter, drinking a beer.

"So... What about your colleague?" Luke asked casually.

Caleb bit his lip to fight a grin as he placed his jar of beer back on the wooden surface.

"Well... What are you asking me, exactly?" he played dumb.

Luke chuckled slightly before replying.

"You know it, man. I know something's going on there. You were always way _too_ eager to get home after college this week, and it didn't look like you were just going to get some sleep. I have a feeling that she has something to do with that. Hey, this is a talk between men. What you're saying now is not going anywhere near Remy's or Miranda's ears, I promise."

Caleb sighed and paused for a moment.

"Uh... Yeah, well... There was a kiss." he blurted out.

"And then?" Luke raised an eyebrow.

"And then another one, and then another thousand ones." Caleb replied as a spontaneous smile appeared on his face.

"Just that?"

"Yeah. But it's cool, I promise. I mean, I told you, I don't wanna rush into things until I know she's one hundred percent comfortable. And last time I checked, she didn't want a relationship, so... You know, one step at time." Caleb explained with a shrug.

Luke grinned at his friend and reached forward to give him a light pat on the shoulder.

"I haven't seen you this way in a while, man." he commented then.

"What do you mean?"

"Always smiling, always in a good mood... I know you well, dude. You're _so_ into that girl."

"Well... What can I say? She is hilarious, she is beautiful, she is kind... She is just everything that you would want."

"See?" Luke laughed.

Caleb rolled his eyes and quickly brought his jar of beer back to his lips, blushing slightly.

* * *

"Jordan told me you finally accepted to go on a date with him." Jason said as he drove Hanna home later that night.

Hanna sighed and leaned back into the passenger seat, looking outside the window.

"Jordan is just a friend, Jason. And maybe this 'date' will finally make him realize that." she muttered then.

Jason chuckled, shaking his head as he stayed focused on the road. He glanced at the backseat from his rearview mirror, grinning as he took sight of a very drunk and passed out Emily.

"What about you and Caleb, though?" he asked then.

Hanna's head whipped around to glance at him.

"Sorry?" she asked.

"Hanna, I've known you for a very long time, just like Caleb, so don't try to fool me. What's going on between you guys?"

"Well, why are you asking me? You're friends with Caleb too, you could ask him." Hanna argued.

Jason chuckled before replying.

"That's a very lame answer. Anyway Caleb's pretty much always studying when he's not with you, and you know I'm not around here very often, so we aren't hanging out much lately. Now tell me... Are you bed buddies or something?"

"No."

Jason huffed at the lack of details.

"Look, I wouldn't have a problem if two of my bartenders, who are also my friends, slept _or_ are currently sleeping together. Actually, I think I would be happy. That would make me like a couple matcher or something." he said then.

Hanna sighed deeply, knowing Jason wasn't going to give up so easily.

"Okay, look, we kissed. That's it. And now do me a favor and don't make such a big deal out of it." she finally muttered.

Jason took his eyes off the road for a brief moment to look at her and raise his eyebrows.

"You _just_ kissed?" he asked then, focusing back on the road.

"Yeah, well, not all the guys are so damn horny like you."

He chuckled.

"Well... I would never thought the good old Caleb Rivers from Philadelphia would be the guy who melted the one and only Hanna Marin's heart, anyway." he commented then.

"Stop it, Jason. We're not together and we _won't_ be."

"So Jordan still has a chance?"

"Jason, knock it off. I don't want a relationship, I won't date anyone. And don't tell Jordan about Caleb. Or Caleb about Jordan, just... Shut up, okay? You'd better think about a way to win Aria over before Fitz steals her from you instead of thinking about me, Caleb and Jordan."

"Well, that was a low blow, Han." Emily mumbled from behind, coming back to life for a split moment.

Jason chuckled at Emily, avoiding to respond to Hanna.

"Sorry." Hanna said after a few seconds, probably realizing she had crossed a line.

"No, it's fine. You know I'm not that touchy. Although I'm starting to think that I should have called our bar 'Soap Opera' or something." he shrugged.

Hanna laughed slightly at that.

"Anyway, Jase, seriously... It's not like Caleb and I are together. We just have fun when we're together... But not in _that_ sense." she said then.

"No, look, it's none of my business. You don't need to give me explanations. You're both adults and I love you both, so it wouldn't be a problem to me, even if I know that I've basically been trying to get you with Jordan for weeks. You guys have all your lives and only each one of you know what's best for yourselves, so... I'll stay outside of it all, I promise."

"And I promise not to say bullshit about you and Aria too. I'm sorry for being so tactless, sometimes."

"Don't worry, girl. Now take her upstairs, tuck her in and, most important, do not let her answer the phone if Ben calls her. For once that she goes out with us, look what happens. He would think we're such bad friends for her." Jason grinned, stopping his car in front of Hanna and Emily's building and nodding toward the brunette's reflection in the rearview mirror.

"Sure will. Thanks, Jason." Hanna smiled at him before leaning in to kiss him on the cheek.

"No problem. Do you need any help?"

"No, it's fine. It's not the first time I bring her home drunk." Hanna rolled her eyes, chuckling.

"Alright, goodnight." Jason concluded when Hanna got out of the car and managed to get Emily out as well.

"Night!" the blonde girl waved at him as he restarted the engine and drove away.

* * *

"Hey." Caleb smiled widely when Hanna entered The Brew to start their shift the next day.

"Hi, guys." Hanna smiled back toward him and Spencer, who was waiting for her to go home.

"You're finally here, I need to get home." the brunette girl muttered, taking off her apron.

"What is it, Hastings? Romantic dinner with your guy?" Hanna teased her, putting on her own apron as Caleb kissed her temple as a greet.

"None of your business. Think about _your_ romantic night." Spencer replied jokingly, waving one last time at the pair before exiting the bar.

"I missed you." Caleb whispered, wrapping his arms around Hanna from behind and kissing her cheek.

"Yeah?"

"Yup. I know yesterday you had plans with your friends and I had plans with mine, but you and I totally need to go out together next Sunday. It's too bad not to see you for one day."

Hanna laughed and distangled herself from his arms.

"It's a date?" she asked, turning to face him.

"I don't know... It could be." he shrugged.

She felt a little weird thinking that she had planned something at least _similar_ to a date with Jordan the very next day, but she just shrugged it off. Then, she smiled before coming closer to him, and he gladly engulfed her into his arms.

"I missed you too, by the way." she mumbled against his chest.

His small smile turned into a grin as he held her tighter.

"You know, I can't wait for Jason to close up this place for Christmas break, so I can see you more often." he said then, cradling her.

"See me more often? Rivers, we already work together for eight freaking hours no stop everyday." she laughed.

"Except for Sundays." he remarked.

She laughed slightly and so did he, pulling away slightly so he could look down at her.

"Can't help it. I just want to see you more." he smiled then, shrugging.

She gave him a big smile and he couldn't help but quickly lean down and steal her a kiss on the mouth. She widened her eyes at him and pulled away.

"Caleb!" she exclaimed.

"What?" he laughed.

"Don't do this at work." she said quickly, recomposing her hair and clothes.

"Why?"

"Because... Just don't."

He laughed and shook his head, amused. Then he came closer to her and squeezed her between his body and the back of the counter, leaning down to be able to whisper into her ear.

"That's a reason more to want those freaking Christmas holidays... We can't do _exactly_ what we want in here, can we?" he finally breathed against her earshell.

His left hand traveled up her hip and brushed against the side of her tiny shirt, sending multiple shivers through her body. When he knew she was kind of caught up in their moment, he decided to stop and abruptly pulled away.

"Time to work now." he smirked, amused at her lost face.

Hanna stayed still for a second. She was surprised in the first place for her own reaction, for the way Caleb could make her feel. Hell, she didn't let any guy make her feel so vulnerable and under their control. Then why Caleb Rivers could? What the heck was with Caleb?

And, once again, Hanna didn't have answers for her own questions.

The only thing she knew was that there was a huge difference between the way Jordan made her feel and the way Caleb did. That was for sure.

* * *

 **A/N: I'm so so sorry for all the time you had to wait to read this :( I had some problems with my internet connection so I couldn't update sooner, sorry about that! Anyway, thoughts about the chapter? I know, not much Haleb, but I'll make up for that with the next one ;) Hanna's still convinced that she doesn't want to committ to anyone, but she definitely feels closer to Caleb than Jordan... And she can still change her mind about relationships, right? :) There's also one little Tyshley reference in this chapter, but I'm absolutely sure you will all get it since basically everyone of you got both references from last chapter! I'm glad you did :) They were obviously the raspberries and the lips that taste like a dessert haha ;) I'm so thankful for all the good words you left in your reviews, by the way. Like I said, I'm sorry if I made you wait a little this time, but I totally love your support and I'll try to be quicker with updates from now on :) Oh, and... How hot was Haleb in the summer finale of PLL? Loved them! So... I hope you enjoyed the chapter :) Thanks again for everything, guys! Hope to hear from you soon :) Love you! xx -Atramea.**


	11. Chapter 11

"So, Spencer confirmed she has her family's lakehouse free for this year as well... What do you think about it?" Emily said the next morning when she came to work so that Hanna could go home.

Hanna wasn't listening, though. She was watching Caleb move behind the counter, putting the things back to their respective place while waiting for Aria. She was literally _staring_ , actually.

"Han?" Emily repeated.

"Uhm?"

"Did you hear me?"

"N-No, sorry. I didn't, sorry, what were you saying?"

Emily rolled her eyes.

"You finally noticed that he has a nice ass?" she chuckled then.

Hanna narrowed her eyes at her friend, so Emily just went on.

"Fine, I was just saying that Spencer invited us for her usual weekend all together for Christmas break at her lakehouse just outside town. Are we going?"

"I don't know. It's not like we have much fun, that place is basically outside the world, there isn't even signal down there. The only good thing is the huge amount of alcohol and weed that Spence has hidden in there."

"What are you two talking about?" Caleb asked, appearing beside Hanna and smiling.

"Oh, you know, Spencer has this weird habit to invite all of us from the bar to her lakehouse the weekend before Christmas every year since the bar is closed. Just to stay together a bit and drink, that's it. She's probably gonna tell you when you see her tonight for work." Emily explained.

"Well, sounds fun. Are you girls going?" Caleb asked, looking from Emily to Hanna.

"Uhm... Yeah. Yeah, I guess so." Hanna mumbled, nodding.

Emily gave her a look, then smiled and nodded at Caleb when he turned to her.

"Then I'll be there too. And this year you'll have more fun because you have me now, I promise." he smirked confidently.

"Right." Emily nodded, mostly looking at Hanna.

Finally, Aria entered the bar too, ready to work. Hanna and Caleb stayed five minutes more chatting with her and Emily about the weekend at the lakehouse before leaving, heading to the near Starbucks. He put his arm around her shoulders as they walked away.

"Is Jason coming too?" he asked.

"Where?"

"At the lakehouse, silly." he chuckled.

"Sorry, I'm sleepy... Anyway, I don't know. He came a few times, but last year he didn't. He wasn't in town. We should just wait to know if he's free this year." she shrugged, yawning and leaning her head on his shoulder as they kept walking.

"Hey, if you're tired I'll just drive you home. We don't have to go for coffee."

She just let out a grunt before stopping to walk.

"I'm cold." she groaned then.

He laughed slightly and took her body into his arms, holding her into a warm hug in the middle of the street. He kissed the top of her head as he rubbed his hands up and down her arms, trying to warm her.

"Jeez, baby, your forehead is burning. I think you have a fever." he mumbled then, still holding her.

"Awesome." Hanna muttered sarcastically.

"C'mon, I'll drive you home. You came to work with a cab, right?" he said, pulling away.

She nodded, leaning into his side as he wrapped his arm back around her shoulders and restarted walking, this time toward his car.

* * *

A few minutes later, when Caleb parked right outside Hanna's apartment building, she turned to him from the passenger seat, looking straight into his eyes with a pleading look on her face.

"Do you have class today?" she asked then, her voice raspy.

"Yeah, but... In about two hours." Caleb replied, checking the car watch.

"Can you come inside and stay with me for a little?"

He smiled and nodded at her before replying.

"Of course."

The two then made their way into the building and then to Hanna's apartment. She headed straight to her bedroom, kicking her shoes off and throwing herself on the mattress.

"I'll bring you some water, you need to drink." Caleb called from the kitchen.

"No, it's fine." she weakly called back.

Caleb, though, came a few seconds later to her side and handed her a glass filled with water. She didn't even try to fight him, she knew he wasn't going to take a no as an answer. She just drank the whole glass and then placed it on the nightstand. Caleb was just about to take it and carry it back to the kitchen, but Hanna grabbed his arm and looked up at him, her eyes half-closed.

"Doesn't matter. Just come here now." she mumbled sleepily.

He smiled and climbed on bed next to her after quickly slipping his shoes off. She immediately drew her body closer to his and he hugged her as she nuzzled her face against his chest.

"Promise me you're gonna take some meds later, and eat something too." he whispered before pressing a kiss against her hairline.

She just nodded.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Shitty."

"It's okay, it'll get better. Just have some rest now."

"Hey... I'm happy you're gonna be at the lakehouse." she mumbled then, out of the blue.

He chuckled, playing with some strands of her hair.

"I'm happy too. I told you that I'd love spending more time with you, even if I get to see you this much already." he replied then, kissing her burning forehead.

"Stop kissing me, you'll get the fever."

"I don't really care about that."

She stayed silent for a second before speaking again.

"Thanks for being here."

"Not a problem."

"But promise me you'll leave and go to college when it's time. Don't skip it for me, it's totally unnecessary."

He smiled through her hair at her concern before whispering an answer.

"Okay, don't worry. It's still early though, so I guess I'll stay a little while. You try to sleep, alright?"

She silently nodded, a small spontaneous smile appearing on her face.

* * *

When Hanna woke up hours later, she was tucked in her bed under the warm sheets. She vaguely remembered falling asleep into Caleb's warm arms, but she was pretty sure they weren't under the covers, so he must have tucked her in himself. She turned around and saw a note on her nightstand, so she reached out and took it before reading it.

 _Went to college, call me if you need anything. Feel better and take some meds. xx -C_

She smiled and replaced the note back on the nightstand, just when she heard the front door open and then slam closed. It was already after four and Emily had finished her shift.

"Han?" Emily's voice called.

"In here!" the blonde mumbled, immediately hating the raspy sound of her voice as it came out.

The brunette quickly came up to her.

"Hey, Caleb texted me and told me you probably have the flu. How do you feel?" she said then, sitting on the blonde's bed.

Hanna slightly rolled her eyes.

"Caleb's too caring. I'm okay, it's nothing too bad." she muttered then.

"I'll bring you an aspirin. You should call Ezra, by the way. You can't go to work tonight. Besides, you'd also scare all the customers with that raspy voice of yours."

"That's really sweet of you." the blonde rolled her eyes.

While Emily went to the kitchen, Hanna grabbed her phone and called Ezra to explain her situation. She was actually a little disappointed not to be able to go to work that night. She was going to miss her shift by Caleb's side. However, Ezra told her it was okay and that he was going to cover her shift for that night. Emily then returned with the aspirin and she took it, then something came up to her mind.

"Crap."

"What?" Emily asked, confused.

"I was supposed to go to dinner with Jordan tonight, before work."

"Well, seems like it's not gonna happen."

The blonde sighed and Emily gave her a look.

"Wait, you actually wanted to go?" she asked then.

"Well, yeah, I guess so. I mean, I said yes when he asked me. It took a little convincement, yeah, but I accepted, eventually."

"Oh, okay. I just thought you were doing that just to make him understand he's just a friend to you."

"Yeah, that was probably my intention. But I was also kinda curious to see what he was planning to do, you know. He's a funny guy, after all. But you know how I feel about him. It was just curiosity, I guess. Anyway, it's fine, we can always reschedule. I'll give him a call later to tell him, it's not a big deal."

Emily nodded slowly, still a little lost.

"So... Caleb drove you home, huh?" she asked then.

"Yes. He also stayed a little with me, but then he had to go to college. But I'm sure that he left just because I made him pretty clear that he didn't have to skip classes for me."

"That guy really cares about you." Emily smiled.

"Yeah, I know he does. He's so sweet." Hanna smiled back.

"And?" Emily asked hopefully.

" _And_ nothing."

"Oh, c'mon, Han... You guys kissed, you're so cute together and you even said he's not like all the guys you met... Jordan included."

"But I'm still sure that I don't want a relationship right now. Did we kiss? Yeah, and definitely not just once. Do we like each other? Hell yes. Do I like being around him? Totally. But he's _not_ my boyfriend. We didn't make any kind of commitment and you know I hate giving labels to things. Plus I'm pretty sure he's cool with that too, since he didn't ask anything. He just keeps acting like he always did, and I'm really, _really_ happy he does. As I said, we're cool like this. But thank you very much for your concern."

Emily laughed.

"Alright, alright... I'm looking forward to seeing what happens at the lakehouse between you guys, anyway." she added then.

"Shut up." Hanna laughed back.

* * *

A few hours later, Caleb, who was working at The Brew with Ezra, asked him if he could go outside and smoke a cigarette since that night there were just a few people in there. The older guy said it was no problem, so Caleb went outside and sat on the sidewalk. He put a cigarette between his lips and then pulled his phone out of his pocket, tapping something on the screen before bringing it to his ear.

"Hey, you." a raspy voice picked out his call from the other line.

"Hey. I'm sorry, did I wake you up? How do you feel? Did you take some meds?"

Hanna laughed.

"Relax, everything's fine. Don't worry, I was wide awake and yes, I took something and I already feel better. How are you doing down there, instead?" she said then.

Caleb let out a huff before replying.

"Seriously, Han, Ezra is the most boring coworker I've ever worked with. Tomorrow morning seems _so_ far away."

Hanna laughed again as Caleb lit up his cigarette.

"What's so funny? I'm serious! And I'm also very anxious because he's kind of my boss and I'm still 'the new guy', so I have to be careful with every move." he added then.

"I know he's nothing like me. But, hey, don't worry. You're really good, don't be anxious."

He smiled slightly, taking a drag from his cigarette.

"I miss you." he mumbled then, letting the smoke out of his mouth.

Hanna, into her room, smiled too once she heard that.

"I miss you too. I'm sorry I couldn't come tonight." she sighed.

"No, no, I'm glad you stayed home. I mean, I'm not, but... You know what I mean, right? It's for your sake."

Hanna chuckled before replying.

"Yeah. I got it, don't worry. So, what are you doing?"

"Well... Right now I'm outside. I'm having a cigarette, I needed to take some air. Ezra said it was fine, besides there's almost no one in there tonight. I'm starting to think that people come just to see you."

"Shut up, Philly boy! If I recall correctly, you're the one who impressed some customer!"

Caleb chuckled.

"It still bothers you, doesn't it?" he teased then.

"No, it doesn't. Plus you didn't even call her back, in the end."

"How can you be so sure I didn't?"

Silence filled the conversation as Caleb bit his lip trying to contain an amused laugh.

"You did?" Hanna finally asked, sounding a little disappointed.

At that, he finally let out his laugh, stubbling out his cigarette against the asphalt at his feet.

"I didn't, silly. I was just having some fun teasing you." he admitted then.

Hanna rolled her eyes but laughed anyway.

"In fact, I'm pretty sure I was making out with you against a tree just after tossing that girl's number in some bin." Caleb continued, raising his eyebrows.

"Oh... I kinda remember that."

Caleb smirked before realizing his cigarette break was taking a little too long.

"Uh... Alright, I should probably go back inside now." he muttered then.

"Yeah, go. Fitz is waiting for you." Hanna giggled.

He rolled his eyes and snorted slightly, standing up from the sidewalk.

"Of course he is. Alright, then... You feel better soon, okay? Sleep tight." he breathed out while doing so.

"Sure. Trust me, I hope I can get back to work right away. You know I don't like being home doing nothing. So... Have a good work, Caleb."

"I know. Goodnight. Oh, and, hey, tomorrow morning I have no classes because there's some meeting of professors or something, so... Maybe I can stop by and see how you're doing? I mean, if you want to."

Hanna smiled. She was actually happy about his idea. Plus, Emily was going to be at work in the morning, so she wasn't really looking forward to staying alone in the apartment still feeling a little crappy. Caleb coming over would be great, yeah.

"Of course you can. Then I'll see you tomorrow." she finally said through the speaker.

"Sure. See you then. Sweet dreams."

"Thanks. Night."

* * *

 **A/N: Hi everyone! I was finally able to update, I hope it was a good chapter :) I knew you all would get the Tyshley reference from last chapter right, btw ;) In this chapter there's no reference, but I hope you liked the Haleb cuteness anyways ;) So... One way or another, Jordan couldn't take Hanna out for dinner...for now (?) :P Also, I really like Hannily's friendship, so I hope you're enjoying these little chats between the two that I'm trying to put here and there throughout the chapters... Let me know if you appreciate them :) And... Are you curious about the lakehouse weekend? I promise a lot of things are going to happen, for Haleb and for some other ships as well ^^ There are some other chapters before that, though... But I'm pretty sure you're gonna enjoy them too, things will start to get spicy ;) I know you all can't wait for Hanna to wise up about Caleb, just be patient and keep reading to find out how things will develop ;) Thank you so much for your reviews and everything else, you know it means a lot to me! I'm glad some of you found funny the Emily drunken part from last chapter, btw haha :) Also, your comments about Jordan were pretty funny :D So... I'm looking forward to more comments, of course! Let me know whatever you want, as always :) And if you're looking for some good Haleb fics to read, here's my current favorites: Good Girl Gone Bad by silenceeverything —along with Growth, obviously—, Strings Attached by hannnarivers, Keep Hold of My Heart by Halebxxx & Sweet like jasmine by LongliveDixie! Check them out :) Love you! xx -Atramea.**


	12. Chapter 12

Caleb literally ran out of The Brew as soon as Emily and Aria came to take over his and Ezra's shift. Emily called something like 'Hanna's waiting for you' after him but he was already out of the bar and running to his car. Though, he thought about bringing her something, so he stopped by Starbucks before hopping in his car and speeding toward Hanna's apartment. He found the door of the building open so he just walked up the stairs and finally reached her door, knocking twice. A few moments later, Hanna opened it and smiled toward him. Caleb couldn't help but make a wide grin back, stepping inside and immediately trapping her into his arms.

"Hi." he simply whispered, kicking the door closed behind his back and pressing a kiss against her temple.

"Hi." Hanna mumbled back, relaxing into his arms.

Caleb was honestly expecting to find Hanna in some sweatshirt and sweatpants, all disheveled and looking pretty crappy because of the flu, instead she was wearing a nice dark singlet which showed her perfect cleavage and her smooth shoulders and a pair of pj shorts, and her hair was quite perfect too. She was simply breathtaking...as always, after all.

"I thought you were cold." he chuckled, pulling away slightly to take a look at her.

"Well, I was. But that's what flu does to me... One second I'm cold, the next I'm hot... And now I'm hot." she shrugged.

"Sure you are." he smirked.

She bit her lip to fight a smile and slapped his arm lightly. He just laughed at that before speaking again.

"Well, seriously, how do you feel?"

"So much better, I promise."

"I'm glad."

"And I'm glad you stopped by. You didn't have to."

He smiled and cupped her cheek just enough to caress her.

"I wanted to." he added, shrugging slightly.

She smiled back before Caleb moved his hand off her cheek only to take the paper bag he had in his other hand to hand it to her.

"I brought you frappuccino." he grinned then.

She widened her eyes slightly in sign of appreciation, taking the paper bag from him and grinning when she checked inside, seeing there were two take-away cups.

"So... Shall we have breakfast?" she said then, nodding her head toward the small kitchen table she and Emily had in their apartment.

He smiled in response, following her to the table.

They had breakfast together as basically always. Caleb told Hanna about his boring night shift, making her laugh with all the adjectives he used to describe Ezra. When they were done, he suggested she should go back to bed. He knew she was feeling better and everything, but he wanted her to get as much rest as possible since she was still sick, especially now that she could sleep not thinking about work. She finally agreed, getting back in bed. Caleb followed her and sat on the mattress next to her after taking his shoes off.

"So, how are you doing at college?" Hanna asked, smiling over at him as she leaned her head back against her pillow.

He shrugged slightly before replying.

"Good, I guess. I mean, I really like it, but I have to admit that it's not easy."

"I'm sure you can deal with it."

He smiled at her before something caught his eye. Over her shoulder, hanging over a chair, there was his Led Zeppelin shirt. His smile turned into a smirk as he nodded toward the piece of clothing.

"What's up with that?" he asked then.

Hanna whipped her head around and laughed slightly before turning back to him.

"I might have worn it last night." she admitted.

He kept smirking at her as he moved to lie on his side, bringing one hand to mantain his head as he looked at her.

"How come?" he asked then.

"I like it." she shrugged.

He raised an eyebrow, encouraging her to keep talking. And she did.

"I don't know, after we spoke on the phone last night, I felt like putting it on. I wore it for the night. It was nice to smell you."

He bit his lip, forcing his wide smile not to appear that big, then he moved his free hand to her cheek, rubbing it. They stared at each other for a long time, neither of them knowing what exactly was coming next. And when he finally decided to lean in to touch her lips with his own, the doorbell of her apartment rang. He stopped his movements before he could do anything and bit his lower lip as she giggled awkwardly.

"Uh... Stay here under the blankets, I'll go get that." he said then, standing up and quickly slipping into his shoes.

"Thank you." she smiled up at him.

Once he had made his way to Hanna's apartment door, Caleb wondered for a second if he should ask who it was, but then decided against it. He wasn't in his own house, he probably wouldn't even know who was standing behind the door and knowing his or her name first wasn't going to help. So, he just opened the door.

And standing behind the door, there was a guy. Tall, thin, tanned, a pair of big muscular shoulders and a confused expression on his face.

"Hey, uh... Hi. I'm Caleb, a colleague of Hanna's. S-She's in bed." Caleb mumbled.

The guy raised an eyebrow, but then stretched his hand toward him before introducing himself.

"Hi, I'm Jordan. Nice to meet you."

Caleb shook his hand and then froze for a second. _Jordan_... He had already heard that name.

"Hanna and I were supposed to go out last night, but then she called me to tell me she was sick, so... You know, I thought about stopping by and see how she's doing." Jordan added, shrugging.

Caleb froze for a second. Hanna was supposed to go out with that guy?

"Caleb, who is that?" Hanna called from her bedroom.

Before Caleb could respond, Jordan had already shot him an ambiguous smirk and was making his way to Hanna's bedroom, leaving him only to close the door.

"Hey, blondie. How are you doing?" Jordan asked her, sitting on her bed as Caleb awkwardly appeared on the doorframe of the bedroom.

"I've had better days, but I'm better than yesterday." she mumbled.

Jordan gave her a small smile and Caleb started feeling a little out of place.

"Hey, Han... Uh, I should probably go now." he murmured.

"You sure?" Hanna asked.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, there's just something I need to do and I had totally forgotten about that." Caleb continued.

"No worries, man. I'll stay with her, she'll be fine." Jordan grinned at him.

Caleb felt a wave of jealousy rising up from his toes, running up through his body and ending up into his head. He _hated_ that dude.

He didn't answer him, he just came beside Hanna and pressed a quite lingering kiss against her cheek.

"I'll call you later, okay?" he whispered to her.

"Sure." she smiled up at him.

Caleb, then, gave Jordan a brief nod before exiting the room, shooting Hanna one last smile.

Of course, he had nothing to do. But he didn't want to be there with Hanna when that Jordan was there as well.

He had remembered, Jordan was the guy who Jason had mentioned once, the same guy who more than once called Hanna while she was with Caleb. And they were supposed to go out last night.

But then again, what could he possibly demand? He was _not_ her boyfriend —maybe he was _something_...but not _that_ — and not being her boyfriend meant that he had no right to act like that.

He was probably being jealous and childish, but right now, he couldn't stay there.

He had always hated sharing something he loved.

* * *

Meeting Jordan kept bothering Caleb all week.

Eventually, Hanna stayed home to recover both Wednesday and Thursday night, that meant that she only worked with Caleb Friday and Saturday night. She could feel that Caleb was a little colder than usual, but she thought it was because of college or something. She also didn't bring up Jordan with him, probably because it was a pretty awkward topic to speak about even for her, but when Caleb told her that their 'date' on Sunday was cancelled because he had plans, she actually felt disappointed.

"What do you mean? I thought you were free." Hanna frowned on Saturday night, throughout her shift with Caleb.

He shrugged before mumbling his reply.

"Luke needs my help with something. It was a last minute thing and I couldn't say no, I'm sorry."

Hanna sighed, leaning against the counter and crossing her arms over her chest.

"Caleb... What's wrong?" she finally asked.

"Nothing. I told you, I'm sorry but I can't take you out tomorrow."

"It's not just about tomorrow. You're different."

"What do you mean with that?" he raised an eyebrow, finally lifting his gaze from the sink and making eye-contact with her.

"Last Monday you were all 'I want to spend more time with you' while tonight you're barely talking to me. Did I do something wrong to you? Please, tell me if I did."

He stayed silent and stared at her for a second. Of course she hadn't done anything wrong to him.

"No, Han. There's just...a lot on my mind lately, sorry." he muttered, focusing his attention back on the mugs and glasses he had to wash.

She nodded briefly, approaching him.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" she asked then.

"I'd rather not to." he replied immediately.

"Okay." she sighed, finally giving up.

A few hours later, when their shifts ended, they went to Starbucks as usual, but things between them kept going that way. He only spoke if she asked him something first and, unlike their morning frappuccino dates, there wasn't much laughing either. He walked her back to her car and kissed her temple briefly, giving her a small smile and mumbling an 'I'll see you on Monday'.

But he should've known that she wasn't actually going to give up until she would find out what was really disturbing him.

* * *

Hanna didn't really feel like going out that Sunday night after her plans with Caleb were screwed. Jordan had actually asked her out again, reminding her of the date she still owed him, but that was before Caleb changed his mind, even though she would've problably denied his invite anyways. All the work of the week was getting to her now, and she was feeling pretty tired. However, the funny thing was that Sunday was Ben's birthday, and that meant that the apartment she shared with Emily was full of half-drunk guys.

And she had never liked the dicks who Ben's friends —and Ben himself, actually— were.

"I'm sorry, okay? I told Ben it was fine because I knew you were supposed to go out with Caleb tonight!" Emily apologized to Hanna, who was sitting on her bed, trying to find some privacy at least into her room.

"I know, Em. I'm not blaming you. Even though I'm pretty sure that most of those dudes are going to stay for the whole night, so... What were you going to tell me when I would have come back here and found all of that mess if I had really gone out tonight?"

"Well, I guess I was hoping that... You know... That Caleb would've finally gotten lucky with you tonight so you wouldn't have come home."

Hanna rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. Now go to your boyfriend, don't worry. I'll just try to get some rest." the blonde snorted then.

Emily gave her an apologizing smile before exiting her roommate's bedroom, closing the door as she got out.

But, obviously, there was no way to get rest with all that chaos.

Despite being closed in her bedroom, the apartment was small and the walls were thin, so Hanna could perfectly hear every single word or laugh coming from the living room, also because they were pretty loud.

But that wasn't the only thing which wasn't making her rest.

Sighing deeply, she threw something more decent on and left the apartment, not even sure if Emily or someone had noticed.

* * *

Stepping into Caleb's building, she made her way straight to his door. She was glad the main entrance of the building was open, so she wouldn't have to ring Caleb's doorbell. That way he could've seen her and not let her in, but as she went in front of the door of his apartment, she heard the TV on from inside and she knew he couldn't avoid her at that point.

She already knew he didn't have anything to do that night, she knew he had just made up a lame excuse to cancel their date, but she couldn't figure out why. Now, though, she was going to find out what was going on with him, she knew that for sure.

She knocked on the wooden door and pursed her lips.

"Caleb, open up. It's Hanna." she called.

Inside, Caleb rolled his eyes. He was sprawled out on his couch watching a music channel, bored and tired.

"I can hear your TV and I saw your car parked outside. Stop it, Caleb, I know you're in there. Open the door!" Hanna retried from the other side.

Knowing he was trapped by now, he got up from the couch and walked to the door, opening it to finally face Hanna.

"Hey." she said as soon as he opened the door.

He was completely disheveled, shirtless and wearing some grey sweatpants.

"Han, what are you doing here?" he mumbled, furrowing an eyebrow and running a hand through his messy hair.

In that moment, to her eyes, he appeared the sexiest she had ever seen him so far.

"Can we talk?" she murmured, chewing on her bottom lip.

He sighed but let her in, closing the door behind her back once she had entered.

"I just wanna know what's running through your mind. So, why didn't you want to see me?" she went straight to the point, sitting on the couch.

He sighed again, taking a seat next to her.

"Look, you didn't do anything wrong. It's just me." he mumbled then.

"Okay, but tell me what it is. Please. I really don't like this awkwardness between us."

Caleb took a deep breath, leaning back against the couch cushions before speaking.

"It's just... I saw how Jordan acts around you. And... It bothered me. Honestly, it did. And I know I can't demand you anything, okay? I just... I wasn't in the mood to go out with you. I thought that you could go out and spend time with him instead of me. He told me that you two were supposed to go out the other night, after all, so... Well, I thought you would have company anyways. I know it was very childish of me but... That's it."

Hanna smiled at him.

"So you had a... _jealousy crisis_?" she asked then.

He snorted and rolled his eyes at that.

He knew it was _more_ than that.

He had started wondering so many things after realizing how much fond he was growing of her... Like, _a lot_ of things. He didn't know if the thing they currently had —with no name, no label and the only thing for sure being that it was _not_ a relationship because she did _not_ want a relationship— was still enough to him. He believed that she felt sorry for not going out with him that night, he was just worried that she wasn't seeing him like he was seeing her.

"Look, I assure you that Jordan has no chances with me. He's kind of into me, okay, but I don't feel the same way. Yeah, we were supposed to go out, just the two of us, but it was just one stupid date, believe me. I only wanna stay friends with him." she said then.

 _'So she doesn't only want to stay friends with me, instead?'_ Caleb thought.

"Look... I don't want you to be mad at me, please. Just... Come to the lakehouse next week. I decided I actually wanted to go only when I heard you would be there as well. Please, let's not ruin everything." Hanna added.

"Hanna, you don't owe me all of these explications. I know you don't. I had no right to act like that. That's why I told you that it was just me. I just didn't like seeing that guy close to you and I got a little too carried away. It's not a big deal, alright? I'm not mad at you." he explained, actually minimizing what he was feeling.

"You're not?" she smiled with hope.

"No."

"So we're okay?" she asked again, taking one of his hands in hers.

He sighed, scratching his head with his free hand.

"Well... I really appreciated that you came over to talk to me, by the way." he murmured.

She smiled slightly.

"Is this your weird guy way to say yes?" she asked then.

He rolled his eyes, but she didn't miss a small smile tugging at his lips.

"Don't make it sound like it's so obvious. You're taking advantage of the fact that I can't say no to you." he muttered.

"So?" she asked curiously, moving closer to him.

He bit his bottom lip as she drew random patterns on the back of his hand with her fingers. He took a deep breath and then finally pulled her to him by their joined hands, making her jump onto his lap, straddling him. He hugged her and she laughed happily. She knew she couldn't lose him.

And as much as Caleb was not sure if he was okay with where he was with Hanna at the moment, he couldn't lose her either. He wasn't ready. After all, she had come to see him that night. She hadn't gone to Jordan. She really cared about him and she had just proved it. That's why he eventually chose to give in to her.

"I hate you." he mumbled playfully as he ran his hand up and down her back.

Hanna pulled away slightly to look at him, smiling mischievously.

"You're such a horrible liar, Rivers." she stated then.

He smiled up at her as his hands found their natural place underneath the hem of her shirt. The familiar contact made them both relax, and she couldn't help but tilt her head forward to press her lips against his. It all happened in a matter of seconds, but he immediately responded to the kiss, gently pushing his tongue into her mouth. When they broke apart, she pursed her lips before adding something to her previous statement.

"But an amazing kisser."

He chuckled, encouraging her to cuddle up to him, which she did, leaning down against his bare chest as he changed channel on TV.

"I'm sorry about tonight, I was an idiot. Do you still want to go out?" he whispered then.

"No, it's okay. I'm tired, actually."

"So you came over here even though you were tired?"

"Yes, but there was no way I was going to sleep at my place anyways. It's Ben's birthday, and Emily let him host a party in our apartment. She thought I would've been out with you tonight, so... Yeah, my apartment is full of drunk and _very_ loud dudes at the moment."

He laughed. But, actually, the fact that she had a bunch of guys in her apartment and a party where she could easily have fun and get drunk, and despite that she was there with him, made him happy. On another hand, he knew he was risking to get hurt, that's why he had tried to avoid her in the past few days, but he definitely didn't want to renounce to her.

He breathed in the rich scent of her shampoo as he pressed a few kisses against her hairline, and she snuggled against him.

"I'm so glad we cleared things up." she whispered.

"So am I."

With that, he lowered his head slightly and bumped his nose against hers twice before starting another kiss. This one was slower and longer than the previous, so they both took their moment and enjoyed every little bit of it.

"I missed your kisses." she grinned when he pulled away.

"Well, I missed kissing you."

Her grin got wider and she pressed another peck on his lips. Right after that, she let out a loud yawn which made him laugh.

"Go choose a shirt, baby." he said then.

She furrowed an eyebrow at him.

"What?" she asked then, confused.

"I'm not sending you home to those drunk horny guys. There's no way you're sleeping in there. Go choose one of my shirts, get changed and get in bed. I think you need some sleep now."

She smiled sleepily at him.

"You sleep in bed with me, right?" she asked then, hopeful.

He rolled his eyes slightly, but there was still _that_ smile on his lips.

"If you insist..." he finally whispered.

* * *

Ten minutes or so later, Caleb walked through the doorway of his bedroom after getting himself ready for the night into the bathroom. Hanna was already under the blankets of his bed, cuddled up to his pillow, make-up free and eyes half-closed.

"Hey... You asleep?" he whispered softly.

"Not yet. I was waiting for you." she smiled slightly.

He smiled back as she pulled back the covers for him, so he got in and finally settled down in bed, only wearing a pair of sweatpants. He fixed the blankets and then put his hands on her hips, facing her, and pulled back slightly to take a look at what she was wearing.

"Well... No doubt why you chose this one." he smirked.

Hanna was wearing a white shirt of his with some bricks drawn on it and the word 'mischief' written in red on the center. She rolled his eyes slightly but smiled again, snuggling against his bare torso.

"Your shirts are all cool. I took the first one that caught my eye." she mumbled as an explanation.

"Yeah, yeah... Whatever." he grinned as he reached out to turn his bedside lamp off.

He then pressed a kiss against her forehead as he pulled her closer.

"I'm sorry for the way I acted, I was an idiot, I just—" he began in a whisper, but she cut him off.

"It's fine, Caleb. It doesn't matter now. The only things that matters is that everything's okay between us now."

He smiled down at her through the darkness of his room, nodding slightly before kissing her forehead. It always felt so good to be that close to her, all cuddled up, keeping each other warm and breathing each other's smell.

"Thank you." she whispered, nestling her head into the crook of his neck.

"For what?"

"For talking to me, for letting me in... And for letting me stay the night, _again_."

He chuckled, hugging her tighter.

"I love being around you, you don't need to thank me." he replied softly.

"I love being around you too."

And with that, she searched for his eyes. Even though it was dark, she could make up his face, and in a matter of seconds, she was leaning in and pushing her mouth on his. Caleb closed his eyes and ran his fingers down her back as she cupped his face to deepen the kiss. After a minute, she proceeded to turn around, giving her back at him and encouraging him to spoon her. He was honestly thankful for that — he didn't feel like doing anything more yet, but he couldn't control his body forever. He settled behind her, swallowing when her delicious ass only covered by her pink satin panties found its perfect place against his crotch, but eventually wrapped his arm around her waist and buried his face through her hair. His hand once again made its way underneath the shirt of his she was wearing, and he rested his open palm against her flat belly. His fingertips moved ever so slightly over her skin, in a way that Hanna totally loved. It made her relax, it induced her to sleep. Then, he kissed an exposed point between the curve of her shoulder and her neck, pulling her even closer with his hand as their legs spontaneously tangled together so that they were both comfortable. Finally, she placed her hand over his, even though hers was above the shirt, and gave in to the urge of lowering her eyelids.

"Goodnight, Caleb." she whispered, making herself comfortable against the pillow.

"Night, baby." came his reply, the light breath coming out of his mouth against the back of her neck causing her to shiver just before she was sent into the world of dreams.

* * *

 **A/N: Apologizes for the long wait! I'm awful, I know. Anyways... Caleb's starting to wonder if what he has with Hanna is still enough for him! What do you guys think about it? And about his first little fight with Hanna? Let me know :) There's also one Tyshley reference in this chapter, but it's easy ;) And in the next chapter there will be a little flashforward to the lakehouse weekend, I hope you're looking forward to it ;) And with the lakehouse, a lot of drama is coming, for Haleb and other ships as well :) So... About the ending of PLL, let me just mention that the girls' matching tattoo is like the cutest thing ever. I'm going to miss everything about this show, but I can't wait to see the final episodes next year...hoping for a Haleb wedding :) So... That's it! I hope you liked this chapter, let me know your thoughts in a review! Love you! xx -Atramea.**


	13. Chapter 13

Finally, The Brew closed up for Christmas break and Hanna, Caleb, Aria, Emily, Spencer, Toby and Jason went to Spencer's parents' lakehouse. Ezra said he couldn't come, but Jason made it. They had organized the rooms this way: the guys all together in a room with three separate beds, Spencer and Emily in another room with a king-sized bed and Hanna and Aria in another king-sized one. Since Hanna and Emily already lived together, they decided to be in separate rooms on their weekend away.

That Friday afternoon, they all met in front of The Brew. The girls had impressive luggages despite it was only a weekend, while the boys had a backpack or a simple overnight bag. They reached the place in two separate cars, then they finally arrived and settled in their rooms before going downstairs to have dinner all together. Jason cooked, helped by Spencer who found him the pans and everything to set the table. However, after a rather quiet dinner, Spencer pulled out her alcoholic resources, and the night started taking another direction.

Around midnight, then, they decided to play. A round of truth or dare, as usual. Caleb and the boys were sat on a couch opposite the girls' one, a coffee table full of alcohol dividing them.

"Alright... Caleb, you're the newest one, so you go first. Truth or dare?" Aria piped up, raising her glass of tequila toward him.

Caleb rolled his eyes and took a sip of his beer before leaning back on the couch.

"I'll go with truth this time." he snorted.

"Fine, so... Last time you had sex." Aria replied nonchalantly.

"Last time I had sex _what_?" Caleb asked, raising his eyebrows.

Aria shrugged before replying.

"You tell me. I mean... When, who with, how was it, any detail you want to include. We're _very_ curious here."

Caleb smirked and shook his head slightly. Half-drunk Aria was way cheekier than normal Aria.

"Uh, okay, I... I think it was three months ago, more or less. It was with Samara, my ex-girlfriend from Philly. It was... Uh, pretty good." he mumbled, shrugging slightly.

" _Pretty good_?" Jason quoted him, bursting into laughter the second later.

"Yeah, man, what's pretty good, huh? Show us some pictures of this Samara and let's see!" Toby laughed too, quickly stealing Caleb's mobile from the coffee table.

Caleb rolled his eyes and didn't even try to stop his more-than-just-tipsy friend. He eyed Hanna briefly, giving her a small smile as she sipped her tequila, looking totally relaxed.

"Are you sure you hadn't had sex in three freaking months, by the way?" Emily raised her eyebrows at him.

"It's a game of truth and I said the truth. So yeah, I'm sure. Even though I'm not too happy since it's been three months." Caleb said.

"Oooh, is this Samara?" Toby asked, showing around a picture of the blonde with Caleb, Luke and Remy on his phone.

"That's her. I know her." Jason nodded.

"Way to go, man!" Toby laughed as Spencer stole Caleb's phone from his hands.

After taking a look, she handed the phone to Emily, who studied the picture too.

"Seems like Rivers here has a thing for blondies." Spencer teased, nudging Hanna with her elbow.

"Could we please stop? I believe it's my turn to ask now. So, DiLaurentis... Truth or dare?" Caleb said quickly, turning to Jason.

"I'm not a pussy like you, Rivers. I'll go with a dare." Jason replied cockily.

"Fine. I dare you to kiss Aria." Caleb said, taking his phone when Emily gave it back to him.

"Way too easy." Jason smirked, leaning across the coffee table toward Aria.

The shorter girl blushed slightly but accepted his lips when he finally kissed her. They all knew it wasn't the first time that they kissed anyways.

"Now, Han... The choice is all yours." Jason grinned then toward Hanna.

"I always pick truth at the first turn." Hanna said, placing her empty glass on the coffee table.

"Well, then... You need to tell us who you've ever sexually fantasized about amongst the people present in this room right now." Jason stated, leaning back against the couch.

"Seriously?" Hanna raised her eyebrows.

Jason just nodded at her, shrugging slightly. The blonde huffed and rolled her eyes, pulling her legs under her ass.

"Okay, whatever. There was this period when I barely knew you, ages ago... Yeah, I may or may not have fantasized about you back then. And then Caleb." she replied then.

Almost everyone bursted into laughter at Hanna's confession about Jason. No one seemed too surprised to hear about Caleb, though.

"Don't act like you didn't know! I told you several times. But then I got to know you, and trust me, you're definitely far from my _ideas_. So, Aria, go ahead with him." Hanna added.

"Shut up!" Aria laughed, clearly starting to feel the alcohol go into her head now.

"And now... Toby." Hanna chose.

"Dare!" he exclaimed, probably a little too excited.

"You know my dares are dangerous, right?" Hanna teased, raising an eyebrow.

"I do know that." Toby grinned.

Hanna nodded before taking the salt from the coffee table and turning to Spencer.

"Hastings, lift your top a little for me." she instructed then as Spencer looked at her horrified.

"I'm sorry, what?" the brunette exclaimed, her eyes wide.

Hanna just rolled her eyes and then lifted Spencer's top by herself, just enough to uncover her flat stomach. Then, she proceeded to put some salt just above her navel under everyone's confused look. After that, she poured some tequila into Toby's glass and put a some lime next to it.

"I dare you to lick the salt off Spencer's belly, drink your tequila in one shot and then eat your lime. And no, Spencer, you can't say no. You're Toby's dare so shut up and let him lick you." she eventually announced.

Toby became red as a tomato at her last statement. Caleb fought off a laugh looking from Spencer to Toby, sensing the whole embarrassment. He knew Toby had a huge crush on Spencer while she was taken to somebody else. Aria and Emily just laughed loudly, while Jason was too busy with his mobile to pay attention.

Eventually, Toby had to oblige and did what he had been told to, disappearing off to the bathroom right after that. Caleb laughed at that, realizing in that moment that he had ended up in a pretty weird group of people.

But he was so happy he had.

* * *

A couple of hours later, everyone was completely wasted. Eventually, Spencer had also taken her weed reserve from the basement, and they had smoked all together after drinking what remained of the bottles of the night. However, the weed had definitely helped them calm down after the alcohol euphoria.

Caleb was sprawled on an armchair, his eyes only half-open. He could vaguely see Hanna dancing with Emily what he could only define like a sexy slow dance, so he was just there enjoying the view. Toby was talking to himself, sitting on the floor, and Jason looked like he was sleeping on the couch. Spencer and Aria were in the bathroom, one of them was probably throwing up all the alcohol had during the night.

When the music went down for some reason, Emily walked away muttering that she was going to check up on her friends, while Hanna walked to Caleb and literally threw herself on his lap, straddling him.

"Hi." she mumbled, smiling sleepily and snuggling against his neck.

"Hey." Caleb groaned in response, wrapping his arms behind her lower back.

"You're having fun?" she mumbled again, closing her eyes.

He just hummed in response, closing his eyes as well as he nuzzled his nose through her hair.

"So... Is that true? You had fantasies about me?" he asked after a minute of silence.

"Maybe..." she mumbled.

Caleb laughed slightly and she laughed along with him before lifting her head enough to press her lips against his. Caleb moaned slightly and opened his mouth, happy to give in to the temptation also given all the alcohol and weed into his system. Their tongues met and they both tilted their heads to the side to find the right angle. While exploring each other's mouth, her hands tangled into his hair and his ones gripped her hips, holding her in place. The kiss tasted like a mix of vodka, tequila, beer and weed, and it felt so good that neither of them had the intention to stop anytime soon. Caleb's hands slowly and spontaneously made their way down, resting his open palms on her jeans-clad bottom cheeks as their tongues kept battling for dominance.

They didn't care that they weren't the only ones in the room; after all, besides the other girls who were probably in the bathroom, Jason was totally passed out and Toby was too busy with the images into his head to mind about them.

When Caleb gave her ass a squeeze, Hanna pulled away and giggled at him as he bit his bottom lip, but it was only an exchange of looks before their mouths were once again merging.

"Jeez, I think I'm gonna barf all over again." Aria muttered as she entered back the room and saw them making out.

"Oh God, I was so _not_ looking forward to seeing that tongue." Emily rolled her eyes.

"Get a room, you two!" Spencer laughed as she took a seat on the floor next to Toby.

Hanna pulled away from Caleb and hid her face into his neck, giggling in embarrassment. He groaned in annoyance at the girls before looping his arms around Hanna's middle, pulling her close to him. However, everyone soon took interest in something else, and Caleb just started stroking Hanna's hair soothingly.

"Have I told you that I'm happy you're here?" she asked suddenly, her voice muffled against his shirt.

"Yes, you have." he whispered in reply, still running his fingers through her long locks.

She sighed happily, snuggling against him as he stopped stroking her hair to hold her tighter against him. He pressed a kiss against her hairline before whispering something else into her ear.

"Can I tell you something?"

"Yeah."

"I wanna make love to you."

Hanna stayed silent and still, and didn't dare look up at him. She was pretty drunk and high and so he was, but she perfectly understood every word he said. And something was telling her that he was completely in himself when he had said those words. He just kissed the shell of her ear after whispering that, not expecting an answer anytime soon. _If_ there was actually something to answer at that.

"Was it too abrupt? Am I embarrassing you?" he asked shortly after, nuzzling his nose through her hair.

"No, it's okay, it was just... Unexpected." she mumbled, not lifting her head.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Anyway, you're drunk and high as fuck, so..."

"So are you. But I'm telling you, Han... Tomorrow I won't be drunk or high anymore, but I'll still wanna make love to you."

At that, Hanna fell silent again. Only after a minute, she found the right words to say.

"You know what? I need some fresh air. I'll just go outside." she quickly said, lifting herself off him and stumbling to the front door.

He chuckled and shook his head as he watched her go. God, she was adorable.

* * *

Hanna was sitting on the grass, just in front of the lake. The fresh air was helping her think a little despite the alcohol and the weed running through her system.

All of a sudden, Caleb plopped down and sat crossed-legs next to her, not saying a single word. He just looked straight in front of him, at the lake. She briefly turned to him but didn't say anything either before turning back to the lake as well. Then, he lit up a cigarette and took a drag before passing it to her, who took it silently.

"You've been here for a while." he murmured as she took a drag herself.

She shrugged as she passed the cigarette back over to him.

"I'm sorry if I annoyed you by saying that. I should've probably kept it for myself." he apologized as he took it.

"You haven't annoyed me. It's just that... I'm not used to that." she finally mumbled.

"You're not used to what?"

"To things like what you said."

"You're kidding, right? Thousands of guys must have told you that they want to make love to you."

"You're wrong. No one has ever told me until tonight."

He glanced at her, an eyebrow raised in curiosity as she went on.

"You know... I heard things like 'I wanna fuck you', 'I wanna screw you', 'let's bang' all the time, yeah... But no one has ever used _that_ word."

"Love?" Caleb asked, intrigued.

She just nodded as they kept sharing his cigarette.

"Then you met all idiots." he stated, shrugging.

"Or maybe you're just a special one." she smiled softly.

He smiled back before asking something else.

"So I didn't...bother you?"

"No, not at all."

"Good."

They shared his cigarette until it was over, then they stayed outside a little more to look at the stars. The fresh night air was clearly helping them come back to their senses after the crazy drunk night they just had. She came closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder, still in a deep but comfortable silence. But it was December, so the fresh air soon became too cold. Caleb felt Hanna shiver and looked down at her.

"Wanna go back inside?" he whispered, and she nodded in agreement.

He put an arm around her shoulders as he slowly led her back to the lakehouse. Once they were in, they looked around only to find that no one was in the living room anymore.

"I guess they went to sleep." Hanna shrugged.

But that's when a chuckle made their head whip around. Toby and Spencer were sitting on the first of the steps that went upstairs, a bottle of whiskey in Toby's hand.

"Hey, guys." Spencer grinned up at the two, clearly still more than tipsy, before resting her head on Toby's shoulder. "Where have you been?"

"Outside. Just needed some fresh air." Caleb shrugged.

"Oh, Han, I wouldn't go in your and Aria's room if I were you." Spencer slurred.

"Why?" the blonde asked.

"Pretty sure she stumbled over these very stairs with Jason like ten minutes ago, all over each other. I mean, I don't like seeing live porn, especially if that's two of my bestfriends, but you may have sexual fantasies different from mine." Spencer continued.

Hanna huffed and rolled her eyes.

"So Jason is about to stain the precious blankets of the bed of your lakehouse with his corporal fluid and you don't mind?" she asked then.

"Ew!" Toby groaned.

"I'm too drunk to care. I guess I'll let them have fun for tonight." Spencer laughed.

"So you guys are gonna have fun too?" Toby smirked and raised an eyebrow.

An awkward silence from both Hanna and Caleb answered him.

"You two actually looked like you were going at it earlier on the couch." Spencer giggled.

Hanna shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"Where's Em?" she asked then.

"I think she went to bed too. Sorry, guys, seems there's no double bed available for the two of you tonight!" Spencer replied.

"Alright, we'll leave you at your whiskey." Caleb piped in, grabbing Hanna's hand and leading her up the stairs.

"Have fun!" Toby called from behind.

"Jesus, they're terrible." Caleb muttered when he reached the top of the stairs with Hanna.

She just shrugged, a small smile on her lips.

"So... I'll take you to Emily's room? I'm pretty sure Spencer's not going to sleep there tonight... Toby and her will probably fall on the floor in five minutes time given their current state." he said then.

Hanna shook her head vigorously before hugging him.

"Take me with you." she mumbled then, closing her eyes.

Caleb smiled. She was in clear need of sleep and still tipsy just like him, after all.

"Okay." he whispered, stroking her hair once before taking her hand.

He carefully led her to his room —which should have actually been his, Toby's and Jason's— and closed the door behind their backs. There were three single beds, all empty, at each corner of the room.

"Alright, so... Where do you wanna sleep?" he asked her.

She just shrugged, plopping herself down on the closest mattress.

"Can I ask you something?" she asked then, looking up at him.

Caleb nodded, still standing beside the door, so she went on.

"About what you said earlier... Well... Yeah, I mean... Since when you want to, uh..."

"Make love to you?" he finished for her, chuckling slightly.

She just nodded, then he continued.

"Well... I don't know if there was an exact moment. I don't think so, actually. But, uh... Well, ever since I first met you, I knew I was attracted to you. Then I got to know you, and... You know."

"So you haven't had sex in months, you had me in your bed twice and you didn't make a move in order to...?" she raised an eyebrow.

He smiled and shrugged slightly before replying.

"I wanted you to be okay with that, and... I never knew if you would actually be okay with that. Also, I never asked you to stay the night with me because I was expecting you to... _you know_. It was nice just sleeping too, really. No secret agendas. But that doesn't mean that I didn't want to... _have_ you."

Hanna laughed slightly before standing up and walking to him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"So... Are we gonna have some fun now or what?" she smirked up at him, seductively.

"W-What do you mean?"

"C'mon, Caleb... Toby's not coming here, you said it yourself, Jason either... We have the room for ourselves and now you know that I would be okay with _that_."

He smirked and raised an eyebrow, looking at her red eyes.

"You would?" he asked again.

She nodded before pulling his face toward her and kissing him as he wrapped his arms around her waist. Though, after a minute of heavy making out, when she started unbuttoning his shirt, he pulled away and shook his head, chuckling.

"Okay, Marin, let's just stop here for tonight." he added.

"What?! You can't be serious! Why?"

"Because even though you sobered up a little staying outside, you're still drunk and high. And so am I. Look... I want that to happen when you're one hundred percent in yourself, so that you can be sure and you can remember every single thing. And I want to remember too, alright?" he explained slowly, making sure she could understand each one of his words.

Hanna snorted and pulled away from him.

"Whatever. I'm sleepy anyways." she muttered as she threw herself on the bed.

Yep, she was definitely still drunk.

He grinned at that, feeling a little fuzzy himself when he walked to her.

"Alright, let's try to take some clothes off you..." he said, bending down to slip her shoes off.

"I thought we weren't going to—"

"We're not. I just want you to sleep comfortable, silly." he cut her off, laughing slightly.

"Ugh, you're so boring."

"Sure I am." he laughed again.

* * *

 **A/N: I know, I know... I'm unforgivable! I also know that you're probably not interested in this, but the thing is that I had neuralgia and it was seriously awful. My whole body hurt and I really didn't want to do anything at all, writing included. Anyway, thank God now I'm definitely better and so I'm back, even if it's been a while :) I hope you were waiting for me ;) So... Here's the lakehouse! I hope you enjoyed this spicy chapter ;) We also got to see other relationship aside from Haleb, like Spoby and Jaria — there will be some Ezria too. I still haven't decided who Aria is gonna eventually pick :D And we'll see more of them in the next chapters too :) But, back to Haleb... What about Caleb's confession? What's gonna happen now? I promise things will get even more interesting from now on ;) So I hope you're excited to see what's going to happen next :D Oh, if you're still wondering which Tyshley reference I put in the last chapter, it was the "mischief" top. It's actually another one of Tyler's shirts and we saw Ashley wearing it a couple of times :) In this chapter, instead, no Tyshley references :) Okay, guys, that's it... Again, I'm so sorry for the delay but I really couldn't update earlier. I hope this chapter makes it up for the long wait :) Thank you for always reading, you're the best! I wish you all an amazing Christmas! Also HBD to our amazing Ashley :) Love you all! xx -Atramea.**


	14. Chapter 14

Next morning, Hanna woke up with a huge hangover. She squinted her eyes when she felt the sunlight filter through the window, knocking on her closed eyelids. A minute later, she tried to open them to find out where she was exactly, since she didn't remember much about the previous night.

She smiled when she saw Caleb sleeping in the bed next to hers. Their beds were only parted by a small bedside table, and when she saw a third bed in the corner of the room she understood they were in Caleb's, Toby's and Jason's room, even though the other two were obviously not there.

She sat up in bed and stretched her arms over her head, noticing what she was wearing. She had what looked like one of Caleb's shirts and her underwear on, so she guessed he must've taken her clothes off and dressed her for the night. Smiling slightly, she got off the bed she was in and crossed the short distance to Caleb's one. She lifted the blankets and got in next to him, snuggling into his side. He let out a small grunt and mumbled something quite incomprehensible before lifting his eyelids slightly.

"Hi." Hanna whispered when their eyes met.

He smiled slightly before rolling on his side to face her, then he put an arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him, closing back his eyes.

"Why weren't you in bed with me?" she asked in a whisper.

He chuckled lightly before giving her an answer.

"I was right here."

"But why weren't you with me?"

He took a breath and then replied.

"We both were pretty wasted... I guess I couldn't really trust myself in bed with you in that state."

She laughed slightly before jerking her head up to press a peck against his lips.

"Why are we here? Where are the guys?" she asked then.

"You don't remember?" he smiled lazily.

She shook her head, so he went on.

"Seems like Jason and Aria had a bit of fun last night...in the room you were supposed to share with her. Spencer and Toby stayed up after anyone, they probably just fell asleep downstairs. Emily went to sleep in the room she shares with Spence, and last night I was going to take you there, but... You wanted to stay here with me, and you know how stubborn you are."

She chuckled at that.

"So... You don't remember anything about last night?" he asked then.

She smirked up at him before replying.

"Why? You're worried about something that happened?"

"Well, you should be the one worried since I do remember you saying that you sexually fantasized about me." he raised his eyebrow suggestively.

She paused for a second before replying.

"But I remember you saying you wanted to make love to me too."

He bit his lip. She did remember. At least the part that mattered.

"Uh... Yeah. Yeah, I did say that." he stuttered.

"That's why we slept in separate beds?"

"I told you, we were still drunk, especially you, and... And I didn't want _that_ to happen...not like that."

She sighed as she stared into his warm chocolate eyes.

"So... You meant it? Even if you were drunk and high when you said that?" she asked softly.

Caleb opened his mouth to reply but then he closed it, smiling down at her.

"Well... What do you think?" he whispered then.

She bit her lip and laughed slightly, burying her face against his chest. He rubbed her back and nuzzled his nose through her hair before speaking again.

"You're embarrassed." he chuckled.

"Maybe a little..." she mumbled, not lifting her hair.

"Why? You don't have to be. You know, maybe I actually spilled it out because I wasn't really in myself, but... It's true. What I said it's actually what I think, and I'm not gonna lie about that. But don't worry, I don't expect anything from you... I never did. I don't want you to feel uncomfortable around me, okay?"

"Okay." she whispered after a few seconds of silence.

"Good." he whispered back before kissing the top of her head.

He slipped a hand underneath the shirt of his she was wearing and rubbed the skin of her back softly as he said something else.

"Plus, I should be the one embarrassed... I mean, you said you had sexual fantasies about me."

"That's exactly the point. I did have them about you, but... It's just sexually fantasizing, we all do that and I wouldn't be so surprised or embarrassed if you had said that you imagined having sex with me. C'mon, I know you probably did that, maybe even more than once, but... Saying that you _want to make love_ _to me_ , well, that's a whole different story."

"Yeah, yeah. You're right. I... I get it." he murmured, not knowing what to say.

Hanna took a deep breath sensing his embarrassment as well before looking up at him and trying to change to topic.

"So, uhm... Did I say or do something stupid or weird last night while I was drunk?"

"Oh... No. No, not really." he replied, deciding not to tell her that she had basically thrown herself to him.

"You sure?"

"I—"

Caleb was cut off by Jason barging in the room, shirtless, pants undone and obvious sex hair.

"Uh... Hey, Caleb... Han." he mumbled, rubbing a hand over his forehead.

"Man... Bad night?" Caleb asked him.

"My head's exploding." Jason muttered, sitting on the bed in the corner of the room.

"Where's Aria?" Hanna asked.

"In her room." Jason shrugged.

"Which was mine too, you know." she retorted, rolling her eyes.

"Oh, c'mon... We all know that you two would end up sleeping together anyways, who cares in which room? I hope you remember something about your lay unlike me, by the way." Jason replied before lying down on the bed.

Caleb was about to say that he and Hanna hadn't actually done what Jason and Aria had, but Hanna spoke before him.

"So you and Aria finally screwed but you were so freaking high that you don't even remember it?"

"Don't rub it on my face, please." Jason groaned.

Caleb couldn't help but chuckle at that, even though he was a little disappointed because of what had happened with Hanna. She only remembered a few things about the previous night, and clearly she wasn't in herself when she had tried to convince him to have sex with her right there and then, so she wasn't in herself when she had told him she would be okay with that either. He was glad he could hold his liquor pretty well, he was so freaking glad that nothing had happened then because he didn't even know how Hanna would actually feel since she wasn't clear headed when she had told him.

Thankfully, he had been clear headed enough not to end up like Jason and Aria.

If he was ever going to make love to Hanna, he sure didn't want it to be like that.

* * *

"Han." Spencer whispered to her friend when the blonde came downstairs.

Toby had come into the boys' room shortly after Jason, and the blonde felt like she was invading their space so she had decided to went downstairs.

"Hey, Spence." she replied, yawning slightly.

"Han, I... I really need to talk to you."

Hanna noticed the terrified look on her friend's face and came closer to her, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Hey, what happened?" she then asked, concerned.

"Last night, I was... I was drunk, and... God, I was an idiot." Spencer stuttered.

"What do you mean?"

"Toby and I, we... We were here, we were just talking, and then... We kissed. We kissed, like, a lot. Like that I realized what I was doing and stopped only when we were about to... You know. God, it shouldn't have happened."

"Oh, Spence..." Hanna murmured, pulling her into a hug.

"I never did anything behind Marco's back, you know? Anything."

"I know, okay? I know. But you should relax. You had plenty of alcohol, you smoked a lot of weed, so you weren't clear headed when it happened, at all. And, most important, even though you weren't in yourself, you managed to stop before it could go further. So don't worry, okay? You didn't mean to do any of that, so... You didn't actually cheat on Marco."

"I don't know, Han... Drunk or not, I still kissed a guy who wasn't him." Spencer whined, pulling away from the hug and running a hand through her hair.

"Guys." Aria came downstairs, pale as a ghost.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Hanna asked.

"Shit." Aria mumbled before literally bursting into tears.

"Oh my God, what's up with you all today?" Hanna groaned before quickly rushing to envelope her shorter friend in another hug.

"Hey, good morning." Emily said, appearing pretty well-rested from the stairs as well before noticing the whole situation. "Shit, what's going on here?"

"Last night, I... I was drunk and... And high, and..." Aria began, stuttering.

"God, Spence, next year we gotta choose... Either alcohol or weed." Hanna muttered.

"I'm starting to think that's best not to come here at all." Spencer sighed.

"So, what happened?" Emily gently asked Aria.

"Jason and I had sex." the short brunette murmured.

"Yeah, well, we kind of figured that, but... So what? I mean... You obviously like him, and... Wait, you're not dating anyone, are you?" Spencer asked.

"No, but... I'm not on birth control and... I don't think we used any protection." Aria cried.

"Fuck's sake." Hanna mumbled.

"I need the morning after pill." Aria added quickly.

"Okay, look... I'll drive you to town. I can't see Toby right now." Spencer said.

"Why?" Aria asked confused.

"I'll tell you while we go." Spencer muttered.

Aria was dragged by Spencer outside, then Emily turned to Hanna, wide-eyed.

"Can you please explain me what the fuck happened last night after I went to bed?" she finally asked her friend, who rolled her eyes before replying.

"Trust me... You did the right thing just going to bed."

* * *

Soon, Hanna and Emily were joined by the guys. Jason immediately asked where Aria and Spencer were, and Hanna quickly told him they needed to sort something out... Which was true.

Emily decided to cook something for everyone, arranging a small brunch. While she did so, and while Jason and Toby —who were still wasted from the night— napped on the couch, Caleb helped Hanna clean up what remained of the mess from the previous night.

"So, uh... I'm sorry about what I said last night." he mumbled as he threw an empty can into the trash.

"Why? I thought you meant it."

"Yeah, I do. But... You know, I was drunk and I smoked some weed too. Otherwise, I wouldn't have told you. But now I did, and... I get that you feel uncomfortable. That's why I'm sorry."

Hanna leaned against the doorframe of the small kitchen and looked up at him, smiling softly.

"Caleb, you told me something beautiful. I should only be flattered for your words. Okay, maybe I'm a little embarrassed, because... Well, you know how I am. But it's fine." she told him.

"Really? Because I want you to know that I never offered you to stay the night with me because—"

"I know, I know. If _that_ was what you were really looking for, I think we would have already been there. I know it's not about sex." she cut him off.

"And that's exactly what you're embarrassed of, right?" he looked straight into her eyes.

She sighed, shrugging slightly.

"Just... Does this change something between us?" he asked then, worried.

She narrowed her eyes and gave him a look before replying.

"What? No! Caleb, we're not in high school. It's not like I'm not gonna speak to you anymore or stuff."

"Okay, but... Will you be able to act the same around me now that you know... _that_?"

"Yeah. Yeah, sure."

"Okay, then." he nodded.

"Okay." she echoed, offering him another smile.

"Well... I guess we should finish cleaning up now." he gave her a small smile.

* * *

Later that day, when Spencer and Aria were back, they went upstairs to have some girly time in Spencer and Emily's room as the boys were downstairs playing some videogame.

"So... Everything sorted?" Hanna raised her eyebrows toward Aria, who nodded firmly.

"So what about you and Jason? You're together now or what?" Emily curiously asked the shorter girl, who shook her head before replying.

"No, we're not together. I'm not sure. I mean, we like each other and I don't regret sleeping with him, but... I don't know."

"Is that because of Ezra?" Emily kept on with the questions.

Aria rolled her eyes slightly.

"I think we should take that as a yes." Hanna grinned.

"You're talking, seriously? How was your night with Caleb, huh?" Aria teased the blonde.

This time Hanna was the one rolling her eyes.

"Pretty quiet given that we just slept." she added then.

Spencer laughed and shoved her slightly before telling her something.

"Yeah, sure. That's what you always say."

"Well, because it's the truth." Hanna shrugged.

"But why? I mean, I may have been pretty drunk last night, but I distinctly remember your tongue down his throat and his hands groping your ass... You guys totally want each other, so why you don't just... _do it_?" Aria genuinely asked.

Hanna stayed silent for a second, in which Emily piped in.

"And, I mean, the guy is pretty hot and has a very nice butt too."

Spencer and Aria laughed at that before Hanna finally spoke.

"You guys... The thing is... Well, Caleb is not the kind of guy who looks for a good fuck and that's it. And I'm not ready to _explore_ anything more than sex."

"That doesn't answer my question... Why don't you _at least_ fuck?" Aria repeated.

Hanna took a deep breath and buried her head into her hands before muttering something.

"Last night he told me he wants to make love to me."

"Well, a lot of guys get all sappy when they're drunk." Spencer stated simply.

"Not the case. Caleb's _always_ sappy, the right amount, though. Anyways, uh... He told me he meant it this morning, and he definitely wasn't drunk. He really thinks that. And once we kind of had a talk, and... He said that one night stands are not his thing. He said he doesn't have sex just for fun, you know... He only wants to be intimate with someone who he has feelings for." Hanna confessed.

A moment of silence followed before Spencer spoke again.

"So, putting all of this stuff together... We can affirm that Caleb has feelings for you."

Hanna sighed and nodded.

"And I don't want to hurt him. That's mostly why we didn't get _there_." she added.

"Okay, well... You feel nothing for him?" Aria raised an eyebrow.

"No. No, of course not. I care about him, he's sweet, he's sexy—" Hanna began before Emily cut her off.

"Then why don't you just give it a shot for once?"

"Because you know me. I don't want a relationship. Last time I got into something just _similar_ to it, Alex almost choked a guy at the bar because I was chatting with him at the counter. You guys, we had to call the police, for God's sake! I hate these things. I don't wanna be anyone's property." Hanna argued.

"It'a not about properties, Han. Plus, I'm sure that Caleb is not violent like Alex." Aria replied.

"Or suffocating like Jordan." Emily added.

"That's not the point. I can't control myself everytime I get close to a guy because _I have a boyfriend_. I'm expansive and I like being around everyone. So I just _don't want to_ have a boyfriend, period. I'm a free spirit." Hanna concluded, sighing.

"So as much as you like Caleb, you will never consider to commit to him or anyone else because you're... _a free spirit_?" Emily raised an eyebrow.

Hanna sighed once again, waving her hands in the air as she replied.

"You know what? Just let it go."

* * *

That night, considering what had happened the last one, the group agreed to simply watch a movie. They ordered pizza and squeezed themselves on the couch. Hanna and Caleb were obviously sitting the one next to the other, sharing a blanket. Hanna could feel him still a little tense from their earlier conversation, but she decided not to ask anything. She cuddled closer to him, implicitely asking for more closeness, just to let him know that nothing had changed between them...at least for her. He lifted an arm and draped it over her shoulders, pulling her closer, but didn't even look at her. And she noticed that.

When the movie ended, Caleb was the first one to stand up from the couch, heading straight outside. Hanna waited for a couple of minutes but he didn't come back, so she finally decided to go looking for him. As she thought, he was near the lake, sitting on a rock. He had taken his shoes off and his feet were in the water as he fiddled with his fingers, his head low.

"Isn't the water cold?" Hanna asked as she walked towards him.

Caleb whipped his head around once heard her voice.

"Not too much." he murmured in reply.

When she finally got to him, she slipped her sneakers off and sat next to him, putting her now bare feet in the water as well. As soon as she did so, she hissed and flinched slightly because of the cold, and Caleb chuckled slightly.

"You know, you didn't have to do that." he commented then.

"I know." she laughed slightly.

Silence fell between them as they moved their feet in the water.

"So... You asked me if something would change between us now that I know that _thing_ , and I told you it wouldn't...yet you're the one who's acting differently now." Hanna stated then, finally looking at him.

Caleb sighed and pursed his lips, still following the movements of his feet in the water with his eyes.

"I don't know, Han. I feel like I've reached a crossroads." he said, shaking his head slightly.

"What do you mean?" Hanna raised an eyebrow.

He took a deep breath and finally crossed her gaze before trying to explain himself.

"I mean that your reaction when I told you what I told you last night only made me things clearer. What you and I have either needs to end or we both need to make a step toward each other, because if we keep going like this after last night, it's only going to be awkward, and I don't like it."

Hanna paused for a second, processing his words.

"What are you saying? I'm not following you." she finally asked, looking confused.

"Right. Okay, so... This... This is new to me. I mean... What's between us, that's new to me. I'm not used to act like this around someone who's not my girlfriend. To me, it's not ordinary to hang around with someone and kissing them and sleeping in their same bed without asking myself much of a question. But I'm trying to do that. Trust me, Han, I'm really trying, and that's because I like you. I really do. I... I like you too much not to try and live this thing between us the way you do, because I know that's all you can give me right now. But... I'm growing really fond of you, and... Look, I just need to know if you're willing to make an effort for me about this, and if you're not... Well, I think we should just drop it."

Hanna pursed her lips before nodding slightly, now beginning to understand his point.

"What would the effort be?" she asked quietly.

Caleb took a deep breath, as if he was carefully choosing his words before beginning his speech.

"Try to consider— _just_ consider—the idea of us being something more than what we are now. Take a little time and see us from another point of view. That's all I ask. I know you're scared of what I told you last night, I know you're scared to commit to someone, so just... Try and see how things go, just for a little while, try to see if you're comfortable with the whole thing...just like I've been trying to live our relationship day by day with no questions. Then, if you're not comfortable with that, you tell me and we see together what we should do. But I need you at least to try, because if you're not ready to take a step toward me like I'm doing for you, I don't think we should be this close. Honestly, it wouldn't make any sense to me."

Hanna sighed and nodded slowly, moving her gaze back to her feet in the water.

"You totally have a point." she murmured then.

"Look, I don't want to make you pressure, I swear. You don't have to act anything different around me than how you do now, it's just about changing your way of thinking. Nothing else. I just need to know how you would feel about the idea of us actually... _together_. If you won't be okay with that, it's fine. You just tell me and we'll figure something out."

"Caleb, I can do that, really, but..." she started, but she didn't manage to get anything else out if her mouth.

"I know. If we don't ask ourselves any question about us, it's all so easy, right? The thing is that I can't just ignore what I feel, though. I can't any longer." he said then, and Hanna felt her heart squeeze at his words.

She bit hard on her lower lip and stared at him for a second before removing her feet from the water. She turned around slightly so that she was straddling him, linking her ankles behind his waist and cupping his face into her hands. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer, making their noses touch.

"When you told me that you wanted to make love to me, I didn't react that way just because I was afraid that you were thinking about a commitment and I'm not comfortable with commitments. I reacted that way mostly because...even if you weren't clear headed when you said those words, I knew they were coming from your heart. You've been completely honest, and... I thought I could hurt your feelings... I thought I could hurt _you_. And that's something that I really don't want to do." she whispered, softly running her fingers through his hair.

He gave her a soft, sympathetic smile before resting his forehead against hers and closing his eyes.

"I know that. But I'm willing to take the risk. It was my choice to take the risk, right from day one. So... Let me take it." he whispered then.

This time she was the one who smiled, pressing a gentle kiss against the corner of his mouth.

"Then I guess I'm willing to try to see how it goes between us. Even if I'm a little scared." she finally whispered.

He opened his eyes and looked at her curiously before asking her the question that was running through his mind.

"What are you scared of? Besides hurting me, because we already talked about that."

She sighed deeply before answering.

"Losing you. I'm scared I could lose you if something goes wrong. And... I _don't_ wanna lose you. You're too special to me."

He gave her another sympathetic smile and then took a deep breath, tightening his grasp around her waist.

"Okay, well... I promise you that if we really don't work out in the end, I won't run away from you. You have my word. Maybe we'll just be normal friends, maybe our relationship won't be exactly what it's been in the past weeks or so or maybe we'll even be friends with benefits, but... I'll be by your side if you'll still want me to. Whatever way it will be. Han, you're an awesome person and I won't get mad at you if we won't get to be a proper couple. I will still want you in my life, I'm absolutely certain of that. We'll just see. We're just trying something that's totally out of the ordinary for you, so I promise you I will understand your reasons however this goes. Do you believe me?" he promised gently, never moving his eyes away from hers.

She pursed her lips and nodded twice, still running her fingers through his hair.

"I'm already flattered that you're willing to try. I really appreciate it." he added softly.

"You've been trying to live this thing my way for so long... Now you're right, it's time for me to do the same. Even if I wouldn't do that if I didn't care about you."

He grinned at that.

"Oh, believe me, I know it. So... Thank you, I guess." he said then.

"You're welcome." she grinned back before starting to move her lips against his and fluttering her eyes shut.

Their lips found a nice synchrony, slow and tender. Caleb pushed his tongue inside her mouth when he felt her lips parting for him, and she received him slanting her tongue against his. Her fingers were still moving through his hair, pulling and scratching but making sure to never hurt him. Their breaths gradually became heavier and their kisses messy as Caleb's hands tightened around her hips. At some point, he pulled away, gasping for air as she did the same. He looked straight into her blue orbs and she could tell he wanted to ask her something.

"You probably don't remember that because you were a bit of a mess at that point, but... Last night, when I took you to my room, you said you would be okay with making love to me. Is that true?" he finally spoke, looking at her expectantly.

She couldn't help but smirk at that.

"I did?" she raised an eyebrow, honestly not remembering that part.

"You did." he confirmed, biting his bottom lip.

Hanna sighed and diverted her eyes to the stars, dropping her hands to Caleb's shoulders where her fingers started tracing random patterns. He couldn't help but lean his head forward to press a soft kiss against the side of her neck, now exposed to him. A small moan of pleasure fell from her lips as she closed her eyes, and he moved his nose up and down her neck, inhaling the rich smell of her skin as he waited for her answer.

"Yes." she finally whispered.

"Yes what?" he asked as quietly, his face still buried into her neck.

"You know what." she giggled, rolling her eyes as he pressed a few more kisses along her neck.

He chuckled and held her tighter, pulling her even closer to him.

"No, I don't." he insisted, his head still comfortable in the crook of her neck.

Hanna sighed, trying to fight a grin before searching for his eyes, and that's when he finally raised his head from where it was.

"I wouldn't have a problem with making love to you." she then shrugged nochalantly.

He made a face and narrowed his eyes at her, shaking his head slightly.

"Now you make it sound like it'd be a sacrifice." he said, holding back a smile.

Hanna laughed and cupped his face, resting her forehead against his.

" _I'd love_ to make love to you." she finally whispered.

He bit his lower lip, trying not get too excited as the words left her mouth. Then, he raised his eyebrows and widened his eyes, pretended to be shocked.

"You're using the word 'love' a little too often... Should I be worried?" he teased then.

She smiled and shook her head, sighing contently before speaking again.

"Maybe _I_ should."

He grinned before pressing a gentle kiss against the tip of her nose.

"Let's go back inside. I can't feel my feet anymore." he whispered then.

She chuckled and nodded, getting off his lap and starting to put her shoes back on as he pulled his feet off the water to do the same.

Eventually, that night, they all went to bed rather early, given what had happened the other night. To make sure nothing else weird would happen, Hanna and Aria shared the king-size bed, even though it wasn't long before Caleb and Jason came into their room. They talked and talked until they all fell asleep, Hanna and Aria squeezed in the middle, Caleb next to Hanna and Jason next to Aria. Toby slept alone in the boys room while Spencer and Emily shared the other king-size bed, doing nothing but talking about their respective boyfriends.

At some point during the night, Hanna woke up and smiled to herself when she found Caleb curled up next to her. And right then, for the first time —even if it wasn't the first time that they were sleeping in the same bed— she noticed that she actually liked the fact that he was the first person she could see when she opened her eyes.

She could definitely get used to that.

Maybe — _just_ maybe— trying to see things another way wasn't such a bad idea.

* * *

 **A/N: Hi guys! So this is a long, crucial chapter... Meaning that things for Haleb will change now. Caleb asked Hanna to make an effort for him and seems like she accepted... So, it's not like they're together, but let's say that she will consider it :) You just have to keep reading to find out how things will change from now on ;) also a little drama for the other ships! Someone asked me about Emison... Well, Ali might appear at some point ;) I'm really happy you liked last chapter by the way... It was pretty funny to see all of them so drunk, right? Haha :) I'm glad you also liked Caleb's accidental confession... Seems like it eventually brought him something good judging by this chapter ;) Thank you so much for your constant reviews. Reading your thoughts about my work means truly a lot to me :) So, now the lakehouse weekend is over... But we still have to see what's gonna happen on Christmas and NYE, right? I have a feeling that you're gonna like the next chapters ;) Thank you as always for reading! Let me know what you think, if you want :) Love you! xx -Atramea.**


	15. Chapter 15

"So... What are you doing this Christmas?" Hanna asked Caleb as they walked through the mall.

She had asked him to come with her to get the last Christmas presents and he had obviously accepted. He could never say no when it came to her.

"I, uh... I think nothing. mean, buying a ticket for Philly right now to come home wouldn't be a great idea given that I need to pay for both my apartment and college by the end of the month, so I guess I'll just stay home and take a chance to study. I have a couple of exams in January anyways." he shrugged as they got into the clothing shop.

"What? You can't be serious, it's Christmas! Are you really going to sit down with your boring books while everyone eats and laughs and gets a bunch of presents?" she asked incredulously, turning to him.

"It's not a big deal."

"It is! I'm not gonna let you study on Christmas."

Caleb raised an eyebrow, eyeing her suspiciously.

"You're coming with me at my parents', it's fine." she decided before turning back around to inspect a pair of jeans. "These will look good on Aria, right?" she asked then.

Caleb shook his head quickly.

"What?" he asked back.

"Do you think these will look good on Aria?"

"No, no... I mean, sure they will, I just... What did you say before that?"

Hanna sighed and smiled, focusing back on him.

"I said you're staying with me on Christmas. I mean, on Christmas Eve. That's when my family reunites in my childhood home and we eat until we explode. It's gonna be fun, don't worry. And then we can spend Christmas together as well, if you want." she assured him.

He paused for a second.

"Han, I... I can't accept." he finally mumbled, scratching his head.

"And why is that?" she asked nochalantly.

"I mean... I don't know, it sounds like a family thing. I don't want to intrude."

"Oh, shut up. It's a family thing, yeah, but that doesn't mean that we can't bring guests as well. Plus this year my dad even invited my long-lost Canadian cousins that I don't even know! You're definitely more family than them to me." she smiled at him.

He couldn't help but grin at her words.

"Are you sure?" he asked then, still a little hesitant.

Hanna sighed and reached out to interlace their fingers together.

"This is me trying to show you how much you mean to me. I don't want to be just me there. You know my family is not perfect, and I... I want to spend Christmas with you, even more so if you plan on spending it on your own. Please?" she whispered then, looking up at him with her big blue eyes.

He smiled again and cupped her cheek before replying.

"Han, if this is about what I said at the lakehouse... Look, I didn't mean to make you feel like you needed to do something to prove me that I'm important to you. I already know that, I don't need any proof."

"I know you didn't, but you do mean a lot to me. So will you just say yes and spend this Christmas with me, please?"

Caleb had a really hard time to say no to those eyes. He tilted his head to the side and raised an eyebrow at her.

"Won't your parents ask questions? I don't want you to feel embarrassed when you need to introduce me." he asked then.

"Trust me, they won't ask anything at all. They know me and they know that I don't like giving a label to every single person of my life. I'll just say that you're Caleb and it'll be enough for them. They're really easygoing, I promise. Plus they're gonna love you, I'm sure about that."

He chuckled and pulled her by their joined hands close enough to press a kiss against her forehead.

"Okay." he whispered against her hairline.

"Okay?"

"Okay." he confirmed, pulling away from her but still holding her hand.

"Thank you." she grinned, squeezing his hand.

"No, thank _you_. Although now I need to buy something for your parents and find something nice to wear."

"I'll help you." she grinned excitedly.

"I know that." he grinned back.

"Well, then... C'mon, we'd better start looking for something."

And as they continued walking through the shop, Caleb couldn't help but feel his heart grow for the fact that they were walking hand in hand, their fingers still interlaced. It was just a simple gesture, but it felt so natural that it truly made him happy. He just hoped that she was feeling the same.

* * *

Nervous.

Nervous was the only adjective Caleb could describe himself when he met Hanna three days later at the corner of the street. From there, they would go to her parents' to celebrate Christmas Eve.

"Hey!" she waved at him when she saw him, smiling.

He exhaled deeply as he made his way over to her, carrying a bag in his hand.

"Hi." he said when he reached her.

She was about to say something when he leaned in and made her lips busy with a soft kiss, which made Hanna forget what she was going to say. He grinned when he pulled away, noticing her slight confusion.

"So... Chardonnay, right?" he asked, nodding toward the bag in his right hand, where he was carrying a bottle of classy wine which Hanna had told him her father loved.

"Uh... Yeah, sure." she mumbled, coming back to her senses.

Caleb nodded before scanning her from head to toe, noticing the lovely dark green dress she was wearing.

"Wow." he breathed out then, pulling his lower lip into his mouth with his teeth.

"What?" Hanna grinned, absent-mindedly reproducing his gesture.

"You look gorgeous."

"Thank you. You don't look so bad yourself." she grinned, admiring the outfit she had chosen for him the other day at the mall.

He smiled at her before leaning in and connecting their lips, starting a kiss that became pretty heated in a matter of seconds. He felt her tongue go past his lips and enter his mouth, giving him a taste of her, and at the same time her hands slip into the back pockets of his jeans. Feeling that she was comfortable, he slowly spun them around without breaking their liplock, pressing Hanna's body against the side of his car, carefully placing the bag on the floor. She leaned back against the car door as Caleb deepened the kiss and pushed his tongue against hers. His hands, that were resting at her hips, quickly slipped behind her, his palms finding and then cupping her ass as their crotches met. Only a few moments later, Caleb noticed that they were probably getting a little too carried away in the middle of the street, so he pulled away from her lips and brought his hands back up to her waist, holding her in place as he simply closed her body into a hug.

"So, what are you thinking about?" she asked, smiling to herself as she returned the hug.

"How do you know I'm thinking about something?"

"I can feel it."

Caleb smiled against the side of her face, their bodies still tangled in a hug.

"Well... I'm actually thinking about something, but... I'm not sure I can tell you." he whispered then, letting his fingers brush against the material of her dress.

She grinned, slipping her hands into the back pockets of his jeans once again.

"At least tell me it's legal." she giggled then.

He laughed slightly, pulling away briefly to make eye-contact with her.

"I'm a good guy, you know that." he replied smiling.

"Yeah, I do." she conceeded, moving her hands out of the back pockets of his jeans to rub them up over his back until they laced behind his neck.

"I was just thinking about you, anyway." he shrugged then.

"And?" she raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"That's the part I can't tell you."

"Mmm... And why is that?"

"I won't tell you." Caleb smirked, holding back a laugh at her insistance.

Hanna pouted, lightly scratching his nape before replying.

"C'mon, you know I'm not touchy at all."

Caleb shook his head, biting his bottom lip.

"It's nothing you don't know already, alright?" he added, rolling his eyes slightly.

She shook her head and rolled her eyes as well, sighing in defiance.

"Whatever." she eventually said.

"Anyway, uh... Thanks again for this. I'm really happy to spend the day with you and I want you to know that."

She smiled up at him this time.

"So am I." she whispered, blinking twice before fluttering her eyes shut when she saw him leaning in to capture her lips into his.

His hands were still at her hips, gripping possessively as their tongues met once again. She weaved her fingers through his locks, abandoning her senses to him. That was until a car sped by and blew the horn at them. Caleb pulled away chuckling, squeezing her hip as he looked at her, who brought her hands to the collar of his shirt in order to fix it.

"Well, I guess we should go now... You know, I don't want to be late with your parents." he said innocently.

She chuckled back and fixed his hair as well, given that she had messed it up a little during their kiss, before nodding.

"Let's go then." she finally said.

* * *

"Hanna!" Ashley Marin squealed when she opened the front door.

"Hello, mom!" Hanna replied before hugging her.

Caleb awkwardly stood by her side, holding his bag with both hands.

"Mom, this is Caleb. He's staying with us today." Hanna announced once she had pulled away from her mom.

"Hi, Caleb! It's so nice to meet you, welcome to our home!" Ashley greeted him, hugging him as well.

He was a little taken aback from that but appreciated it since he was freaking out for their meeting.

"Thanks, mrs Marin. It's a pleasure to be here." he mumbled as he returned the hug the way he could.

"Call me Ashley, dear. And please come inside, the both of you!" Ashley smiled, pulling away from him.

"Caleb brought something." Hanna said as they stepped inside.

"That's so nice of you! You should give it to Tom, my husband. He's right there." Ashley gestured.

Hanna put a hand around Caleb's arm.

"Come with me." she told him as they started walking together toward her dad.

"Hey, Hanna." Tom smiled once they were close enough before hugging his daughter.

Hanna returned his hug before pulling away and placing a hand on Caleb's small back.

"Hey, dad, this is Caleb. He's spending the day with us and brought something for you." she said then, smiling from her dad to Caleb.

"Good morning, mr Marin. It's nothing too special, but Hanna told me you'd like it." Caleb smiled, handing him the bag.

Tom smiled before seeing the content of the bag.

"Thank you so much, Caleb. A bottle of Chardonnay is always very appreciated. Please suit yourself." he said then.

"Thanks, sir." Caleb replied politely before Hanna dragged him into the dining room where the rest of her relatives was.

She quickly introuduced him to her grandma, uncle, aunt and then her Canadian cousins, even if she didn't really know them. They started lunch shortly after, Caleb obviously sitting next to Hanna. He had actually a nice time, getting along really well with Robert, the Canadian cousin — it had turned out that they both studied Computer Engineering so they had a lot in common and a lot to talk about.

Caleb wasn't expecting to feel that comfortable with that whole situation, yet he was having a really nice time. Hanna's family was easygoing as she had told him and he never felt out of place. If Hanna hadn't told him about their issues, he would have never guessed. But that was none of his business, the only thing he knew was that he was having a nice time.

At some point, when Hanna placed her hand on his thigh and so he turned toward her and she flashed him one of her beautiful comforting smiles, he knew for sure he had made the right choice accepting to spend the day with her and her family instead of being home on his own.

* * *

 **A/N: I know, I know, I know! I know it's been a while and everything but besides the fact that life's been absolutely crazy lately, I had a really hard time deciding how I wanted this chapter to be. I'm still not completely satisfied with it, but I guess it can work like this — kind of. Please remember that Hanna's family situation here is different from the way it is on the show, and so are Ashley's and Tom's characters. Hanna tells Caleb everything about her family in chapter 7, if you wanna re-read it :)** **Some good news, I have the next chapter already all written so you're not gonna have to wait this long to have it :) Aaand it's gonna be a good one ;) Anyway, don't worry if I disappear sometimes, I'm always coming back at some point :) So, I'm really happy you all seemed to appreciate last chapter. It was a crucial one and it means a lot to me the fact that you guys enjoyed it! Oh, for the guest who asked for the video of Ashley and Tyler dancing at the MTV Fandom Awards, you can find it on YouTube, it's called "** **Ashley Benson & Tyler Blackburn Dancing In A Night Club (09.07.15)". I just rewatched it, it's too sweet :) No Tyshley references in this chapter, btw. hannnarivers, thank you so much! I'm in love with your stories too so I'm happy you're obsessed with mine. I really appreciated your review :) And thank you, every single one of you for your reviews and everything. I'm sorry I can't be always quick with updates, but I hope you're still liking what you read despite everything. Next time, however, I promise an update way quicker than this, definitely :) So let me know what you think! And get ready for the next chapter... Have I already said it's gonna be a good one? Oh well ;) Thanks for reading, until next time! Love you guys! xx -Atramea.**


	16. Chapter 16

Before they knew it, it was evening, and some of Hanna's relatives started leaving. When Caleb realized there was only Hanna's parents, her aunt, Hanna and him left, he managed to speak with her in private for a minute and suggested he should leave. But clearly, she wasn't on his same page.

"Why would you leave?" she raised her eyebrows.

"Han, it was a great day, but now lunch's over and there's just your aunt with your parents. I don't want to intrude anymore." he explained.

She sighed and rolled her eyes slightly before replying.

"You didn't intrude, okay? Anyway, you're not going anywhere. You're spending the night here so tomorrow we can go out or something for Christmas."

Caleb furrowed his eyebrows. Sure, she had told him they could spend together Christmas as well, but he hadn't understood he could even spend the night there.

"Really?" he asked, slightly puzzled.

"Sure. I thought you got that." she chuckled.

"I mean, are you sure? You parents literally just met me and I'm spending the night in their house?"

"Caleb, I brought you here with me, in my family's house. That's all they need to know. Plus this is still my house too, after all. And they love you already, so..." she smiled with a slight shrug.

He couldn't help but smile back at her words.

"Okay... Thank you." he nodded before closing her into his arms.

Hanna relaxed into his embrace and took a deep breath to inhale his scent.

"I love them too, by the way. I mean, look what a wonderful human being they gave the world..." he whispered as he pressed his lips against her temple a couple of times.

Hanna raised her head and grinned at him before pecking his lips.

"Well, that was cheesy." she added.

"Sorry." he laughed before kissing her again.

Hanna absent-mindedly leaned by the wall behind her back as she felt Caleb's tongue making its way into her mouth. Her arms circled his neck as his ones kept her waist steady as they both tilted their heads to the side, seeking the best angle.

"Mh... I actually have an idea." she mumbled at some point against his lips.

"Which is?" he muttered before stealing her lips for a couple of seconds more.

"You know, my parents are going to watch a very boring Christmas movie at this point of the night. It's some weird family tradition, which I hate by the way. _But_ we could say we're going to bed because we're _very_ tired."

"Oh... So we're tired?" he raised an eyebrow at her, biting his lower lip.

"Very." she smirked, pecking his lips one last time before taking his hand and leading him toward the living room.

"Hey, sweetheart! The movie's about to start." Ashley grinned when she saw Hanna and Caleb coming into the living room.

"Uh, actually mom... Caleb and I are pretty tired. We got up really early this morning to come here, so... If you don't mind, we'll just go to sleep." Hanna said.

"Oh, Hanna told me I could stay the night here, and... I just wanted to say thank you, mr and mrs Marin. For today and for everything." Caleb added quickly, standing next to her.

"No problem, son. Okay, Han, you can go. We understand." Tom replied, focusing back on the screen as Ashley gave a smile at them both.

"Alright, thank you. Night." Hanna smiled gratefully at her parents.

"Goodnight, thanks again." Caleb remarked.

Hanna's parents called their goodnights as she dragged him upstairs.

"So... Where is my room?" he asked as she kept walking.

She laughed before opening a door to reveal a room really... _pink_.

"Sorry to break the news, but there's no guestroom in this house. You're sleeping in my room tonight. Oh, unless you don't prefer sharing the bed with my mom and dad, of course." she grinned at him, dragging him inside before closing the door.

He turned to her and furrowed an eyebrow.

"What about you?" he asked then.

"What about me? Like I said, this is _my_ room." she chuckled at his puzzled look.

Caleb smiled a little, coming closer to her.

"So your mom and dad just let us go upstairs knowing that we'll be sharing the room?" he laughed slightly.

"I guess they did."

He smiled at her and was about to say something when she cut him off.

"Make yourself comfortable, I'm just gonna grab a quick shower."

He just followed her with his eyes as she made her way to the en-suite bathroom, still very puzzled by the whole situation.

He plopped down on her pink flurry queen-size bed and sighed as he heard the water turning on from the other side of the wall. He kicked his shoes off and rested his head on her huge —obviously pink— pillow, relaxing himself and closing his eyes for a second. He didn't know if he actually fell asleep for a minute, but at some point a thump against the bedroom door literally made him jump.

"Hanna?" Ashley Marin's muffled voice called from behind the door.

Caleb realized the water was still on so Hanna was still in the shower, so he got up and opened the door.

"Hi, mrs Marin... Hanna's in the shower right now." he smiled at the woman.

"Oh, no problem. Just wanted to let you guys know that we're going to the church for the midnight mass for Christmas. So if you need something, just ask Hanna."

"Sure, no problem. Thanks again for letting me stay here for the night, mrs Marin."

"You're welcome, Caleb. Goodnight, we won't disturb you guys anymore. I'll see you in the morning."

"Goodnight." Caleb smiled before closing the door.

He walked back to the bed and sat down, rubbing his eyes. He could hear the front door open and then close from downstairs, so he lied back down on the mattress and sighed deeply. He still couldn't believe that he had just spent Christmas Eve with Hanna's family and that he could even stay in their house for the night.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when the door of the bathroom clicked open and Hanna entered the bedroom, with nothing but a towel wrapped around herself. It covered her from her chest to just above her thighs. It was _very_ short. Her hair was damp from the shower and there were also a few small droplets of water covering the bare skin of her face and limbs.

"Hey." she smiled at him, making her way to the vanity at the corner of the room.

Caleb had to take a second to gather his thoughts and remember how to speak.

"Hey, um... Your mom came here two minutes ago, and... She said they were all going to the church." he stuttered.

"Okay. You know, they're not that religious, but they never miss Christmas mass." she shrugged, looking at his reflection in the mirror as she brushed her wet hair.

"Do you...need to go there too?"

"Nope. Church is not really my scene." she laughed slightly.

He bit his lip as he watched her stand up and make her way toward her big closet. When she opened the doors though, she bent forward and the movement slightly lifted her towel from her thighs.

At that point, Caleb knew she was teasing him...and he _really_ couldn't take it anymore.

He had been patient with her, patient like he had never been in his life before. He had waited long enough just for a kiss, he had had her in his bed more than once and did nothing but cuddle her, but now there she was, more naked than clothed, they had had a pretty serious conversation about sex a few days earlier, they had just spent a really nice day together and they were the only ones in the house... He didn't know if it would've been different if her parents were still there, but now they weren't and he wasn't exactly in the mood of thinking.

And so he stood up, breathing out as he made his way toward her. He stood just behind her figure, now noticing that there was another mirror inside the large closet she had just opened. Their gazes met in the mirror and he smirked at her.

"You're testing me or what?" he asked, leaning closer to her ear.

She smirked back but didn't lose her composure.

"And what exactly would I be testing?" she asked back innocently.

Caleb moved her hair over her shoulder so that he could have access to the curve of her neck, where he pressed his lips softly. She shivered under his kiss and he knew he was in control now.

"My resistance." he whispered against her skin.

Her head fell back against his chest as he kept pressing open-mouthed kisses over her neck, shoulder and collarbone, loving that her skin was still a little wet.

"You already passed that test." she sighed, closing her eyes under his ministrations.

He moved his lips to her cheek where he planted a lingering kiss as his hands slowly roamed down her sides, over the towel. He moved them back up and searched for her eyes in the mirror as he stopped just under her arms where the towel was tight. When she opened her eyes, they stared at each other until she gave him a small smile before nodding.

That's when Caleb hooked his thumbs in the towel and made just enough pressure to make it fall to the ground, leaving Hanna finally naked for him. _Completely_ naked. _Only_ for him.

His breath got stuck in his throat as he looked at her reflection in the mirror. She was hands down the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. He settled his hands on her hips and kissed again the side of her neck before nuzzling his head into the crook.

"God, you're so gorgeous..." he mumbled against her skin.

She grinned and leaned her head on top of his as she put her hands over his, spurring him to move them over her body. She led them to her breasts, encouraging him to cup them. He opened his eyes and had to look at the mirror to be sure that it was actually happening. Her breasts were impressive but not too much. They were perfect, and if he hadn't already been hard before, now he could literally feel himself rising in his pants.

Her hands dropped from his as she reached behind her and gripped the back of his still clad thighs, pushing him closer to her. He let out a groan as he felt her lower naked half collide with his obvious boner that was growing with every second. But he wanted her to enjoy every minute of that more than anything, so he forced himself to stay focused on her.

He swiped his thumbs over her nipples and felt her body react to the contact. They became harder and harder under his touch as his tongue licked the droplets of water off her shoulder.

"Caleb..." she moaned, and he loved the way his name came out of her mouth in that moment.

"Yeah?" he played dumb, squeezing her breasts lightly before circling her nipples with his thumbs all over again.

He didn't wait for her to give him an answer as his right hand left her breast to move lower, briefly touching her flat belly enough to fell her muscles contract, before it landed between her legs. He went straight to the point where he knew she was dying to be touched, where he pressed his index finger without any warning. She flinched and mumbled something as he kept rubbing his finger there, getting some help by his thumb as well. He shushed her into her ear as he watched her struggle and become flushed, trying to gain more friction. He decided not to enter her yet, despite he could tell she definitely wanted it. He went on, touching her in her most sensitive areas and kissing and sucking on her neck until she decided she couldn't take it anymore.

She abruptly turned around and hungrily pressed her lips against his, haphazardly undoing the buttons of the shirt she had chosen for him the day they had gone shopping together. He helped her and in a matter of seconds the shirt was off and she was pushing him backwards toward her bed. He fell on his back with her on top, their mouths never parting. Her hands automatically went to his belt loop as he couldn't help himself and settled his ones on her bare ass. Hanna could clearly feel his arousal pushing against the material of his jeans, which she quickly undid after his belt.

"You don't know how many times I pictured this in my mind..." he mumbled as she pulled his jeans down his hips.

"Me too..." she breathed out before her lips were pressed against his once again.

Their kiss was messy and eager, their noses bumped together more than once as Hanna cupped him through his black briefs and he groaned, breaking their make out session all of a sudden. She shot him a mischievous smirk before pulling them down as well. When Caleb felt both his jeans and briefs at his ankles, he kicked them off so that he was completely exposed to Hanna, just like she was to him.

They both stilled for a second, staring into each other's eyes in complete silence. His hand went to take a strand of her hair to move it behind her left ear, as she placed hers just above his shoulders, staring at him as she chewed on her bottom lip.

"You want this?" he asked in a soft whisper.

She smiled at him and nodded, playing with the hair at his nape between her fingers.

"You want this?" she asked him the same question.

He was sure she was joking, since she knew he totally did, but he was also definitely _showing_ how much he wanted it. So he raised his eyebrows and nodded his head toward his massive erection, loving the light blush that appeared on her cheeks as soon as her eyes landed there. He let out a short laugh to break the awkwardness and placed his lips on hers, kissing her tenderly. When they separated and he noticed that she was about to sink down onto his body, he had a sudden realization.

"Han, I... I don't have a condom with me." he murmured, mentally cursing himself.

"It's okay." she simply whispered back as she wrapped her arms around the back of his neck.

She rested her forehead against his shoulder and closed her eyes as she finally lowered her body onto his. He quickly cupped her hipbones as he felt himself slowly enter her, a feeling he had never thought could be that amazing. He couldn't stop the sigh that fell from his lips when he felt he was finally all the way in, and she suppressed her moan against the skin of his shoulder. He could feel her whole body tensing and understood that he had to give her some time to adjust, so he rubbed her back soothingly with both hands and pressed a gentle kiss right behind her ear, inhaling the sweet smell of her chamomile shower gel. A few seconds later she gave him a kiss back, placing her lips on his chest as she finally began moving her hips, clutching on his upper half as she settled for a slow pace. He moved his hands back on her hips, guiding her movements as he closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling of them becoming one.

Her breathing was ragged, and every once in a while she let out these extremely soft, almost whispered pleasure sighs that Caleb found tremendously adorable. He held her tighter and started raising his hips as well to create more friction, then nudged the side of her face with his cheek, encouraging her to turn to him. So their mouths automatically found each other, tongues touching, trying to give and take at the same time as she kept riding him.

When he moved his hands up to her sides and felt some droplets of water under his fingertips, he suddenly remembered that she was still wet from her shower and he thought she might be feeling cold, so in a sharp move he grabbed the edge of the blankets and lifted them. Then, still kissing her, he delicately spun them around and laid her down on the mattress, getting on top of her. He proceeded to put the blankets over their naked bodies and then he was the one who took control, plunging between her thighs with a slight harder pace. She grunted at the new angle and closed a fist through his short locks that only made him want more. He grabbed her legs and spreaded them a little more, allowing him to go deeper. She linked her ankles behind his waist, burying her heels into his asscheeks and pushing him even deeper into her.

"Oh my God." she moaned, pulling at his hair.

He groaned as he kept thrusting, placing open-mouthed kisses all over her face and neck. When she purposelly tightened her inner muscles around him, she took him by surprise, because he stilled all of a sudden and let out a strangled moan before biting just above her collarbone. He didn't hurt her though, she was just smirking at his reaction.

"Fuck." he grunted, taking a second to glance at her.

"What?" she asked, faking innocence before doing it again.

"Hanna!" he groaned again, squeezing her thighs.

She chuckled slightly before taking his face into her hands and kissing him as he began moving again. She was _really_ testing him. His hands moved upwards, caressing the smooth skin of her sides before resting on the outer side of her breasts, where he squeezed gently. The moan he elicited from her was his little revenge for what she had done just a minute earlier.

However, he knew he wasn't going to last much longer. Hanna felt — _was_ , for that matter— incredible, and her recent joke had only pushed him right on edge. He placed another soft kiss against her lips and waited for her gaze to cross his, and when she did he spoke, furrowing his eyebrows in concentration to try and put the words together in a situation like that.

"I'm close, Han..." he managed to mutter, thrusting in an irregular rhythm by now.

"Me too... I need just... Just a little more..." she sighed, throwing her head backwards into the pillow as he tried to go on as long as possible.

Still not belleving that he was actually making love to the one and only Hanna Marin, he slammed his hips forward and someway touched the point inside her that pushed her over the edge right away. She let out a sound definitely louder than the ones she had made until then, her nails suddenly dug into his shoulders and her inner muscles closed around his dick like a vice — this time he knew that it wasn't her being mischief with him. Her reaction to the orgasm was the breaking point for him as well — he was already doing a huge effort to keep going before that. Someway, though, he was clear headed enough to immediately pull out of her before it was too late. He grabbed himself and stroked a few times, but she vigorously shook her head at him. She was still recovering and breathing heavily but noticed that he had pulled out before coming and seemed someway disappointed. Next thing he knew, she had grabbed him herself and had pulled him back in. At that, Caleb didn't even had time or anything to process or understand what was happening because as soon as he felt that warmness and tightness around his cock once again, he spilled everything he had to give inside her.

His body shook almost violently as he literally collapsed on top of her. A long grunt followed, then he was just panting against the crook of her neck as she had gathered enough energy to connect their hands and interwine her fingers in between his, squeezing them soothingly as she waited for his muscles to stop twitching so furiously.

"I'm on birth control since I was seventeen, you idiot." she whispered into his ear, laughing slightly.

He laughed too, still a bit out of breath.

"I couldn't know. And I couldn't know if you wanted to feel me like that either, birth control or not." he muttered when he had gained enough strength.

She pressed a kiss against the shell of his ear as he slowly lifted himself off her, pulling out and rolling over onto his back. He let out a deep sigh, running a hand through his hair.

"So... Did it really just happen?" he asked then, more to himself than to her, smiling like an idiot.

She reached out for her bedside table and grabbed a tissue box, handing one to him before taking one for herself.

"Looks like it did." she smiled at him, wiping herself clean as he did the same next to her.

He put the tissue away before turning to her and giving her a big bright smile.

"Come here." he whispered, opening his arms for her.

She put the tissue away as well and came closer to him, letting him take her into his arms. Someway, she ended up settled in between his legs, resting her head and back against his torso as he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind. Kissing her hair, he popped up a question as she rested her hands on his bare arms.

"So, now I'm curious... Was it better than your fantasies about me?"

She laughed along with him, absent-mindedly rubbing his wrists before replying.

"Honestly, I'm pretty impressed. I'm not gonna give you a mark, though. I'm not that kind of girl."

He kept laughing, kissing her temple repeatedly.

"I know you're not. You're just incredible." he whispered then.

"What does that mean?" Hanna asked curiously, craning her neck just enough to make eye-contact with him.

"I mean that you're so... _you_. I never met anyone like you, but I'm so happy I did."

She grinned at him as he leaned down and joined their lips in a chaste kiss. Then, she turned her head back around and grabbed his hands, toying with his fingers.

"Well... Merry Christmas, Philly boy." she sighed, glancing at the clock above her closet who signed midnight as he interlaced their fingers together.

"Merry Christmas to you." he whispered against her hair.

She felt the need to turn her head back again to press another kiss against his lips.

"Hey, I was thinking... You knew how much time had passed from my last time... Am I allowed to know the same about you?" he asked as soon as their lips parted.

She laughed and turned back around, making herself comfortable against his chest.

"Is that so important?" she asked then.

"No, it's not. I'm just curious."

"I've never slept with Jordan, if that's what you're worried about."

This time, he was the one who laughed, then replied.

"It's not. But it's okay if you don't want to tell me. Like I said, I was just curious. Now you're in bed with me naked, that's _all_ I need to know."

She smiled at that, feeling one of Caleb's hands slip under the blankets and brush against her outer thigh.

"But you have to tell me one thing... You planned this?" he began again, setting his hand on her hip where he started drawing circles with his thumb.

"Planned what?" she played dumb.

"You and I... Naked, in bed together, tonight."

"You want the truth?"

"Sure."

"Okay, well... I just wanted to spend the day with you today. But then... I don't know, you've been so cute and everything, and that shirt was making you look pretty good, and then I knew my parents would leave at some point, so... When we got there, I knew it was the right time."

Caleb smiled and printed a soft kiss against the top of her head before reaching out to switch the light off.

"You tired?" he asked, moving his hands up and down her bare arms.

"A little bit. You know, actually I think that's partly your fault." she whispered mischievously, eliciting a chuckle from him.

"Right. Okay, we can go to sleep now, but... Just so you know, there's a surprise for you, tomorrow."

Hanna distangled herself from his arms and sat up to face him.

"What?" she grinned.

"That's my Christmas present for you. But you need to wait until tomorrow." he smirked.

"You didn't need to do that."

"I wanted to."

Hanna smiled again before lying down next to him, on her side.

"Will you give me some cuddles? They help me sleep." she pouted.

Caleb laughed before turning to his side as well, facing her, and brought a hand to her hair, massaging her scalp with his fingers. His other hand went to rest on her hip, rubbing soothing circles. She brought a hand to his face, tracing his cheekbones lightly while fighting to keep her eyes open.

"You're too beautiful." he whispered lovingly, admiring her.

"What does it even mean?" she chuckled, eventually closing her eyes.

"I'm still trying to figure that out." he smiled at her now sleeping face. "Goodnight, baby." was the last thing he whispered before he fell asleep too with her hand still on his cheek.

* * *

 **A/N: So FINALLY the magic happened ;) Let me know how it was because I really want to know your opinions about this chapter that I have a feeling you all were waiting for! I'm really happy about your comments, by the way... The fact that you're enjoying the story means everything to me so a huge thank you to everyone of you :) So... How do you think their relationship will develop from now on? Who knows ;) Thank you so much for reading, I hope to hear from you! Love you all! xx -Atramea.**


	17. Chapter 17

Caleb woke up in a really nice way. A pair of lips were pressed against his collarbone and the sweet familiar scent he smelled in the air was the only proof he needed to make sure that last night hadn't been just a dream. He didn't even need to open his eyes, he just reached out and took the hand of hers that was haphazardly wandering over his bare chest, interlacing their fingers before bringing them up to his lips to press a kiss against her knuckles.

"You're awake." she smiled, looking up at him, even though his eyes were still closed.

"Not really... I guess you should try to wake me up." he mumbled, holding back a laugh.

"Well... What could I do?" she grinned.

"You know the sleeping beauty? I think you should try to wake me up the way they did with her."

"I'm pretty sure the sleeping beauty couldn't talk while sleeping." Hanna reasoned, still grinning.

Caleb didn't answer, just waited for her to actually do something. And that's when she conceeded him a peck on his lips, which he didn't even have time to try and deepen.

"Get your ass up, Philly boy. My parents are waiting for us for breakfast downstairs... Then we can finally go out." she added, getting up herself.

And, much to his dismay, when he opened his eyes, she had already her underwear and bra on and was looking through her closet for some clothes to wear. He sat up and took some minutes just to watch her move so easily around her room, thinking back to their previous night.

"Are you just gonna stare or what?" she laughed slightly, turning back to him for a moment.

"You know, I guess I was just hoping for a different first morning after, but then I remembered we had our first time in your parents' house... And the funny thing is that I live on my own and you slept in my bed for the whole night several times, but we still ended up making love here, so... I guess this is the only first morning after we can have."

Hanna turned back around once again and raised an eyebrow at him.

"That's why you like me, isn't it? I'm unpredictable." she shrugged, letting a smirk appear on her lips.

Caleb laughed and shook his head. She was totally right.

He pulled the covers of the bed to the side and finally got up, butt naked. He picked his briefs from the floor and put them back on, proceeding to search for the rest of his clothes.

"Seriously, though, I really appreciated the fact that your parents let me stay. I mean, I'm pretty sure I woke up during the night because I could hear your dad snoring from the other room, but I can't complain about anything. They're both really open-minded, by the way." he said while getting dressed as well.

"I think they just feel guilty toward me... You know, for what I've been through when my dad cheated on my mom. They're back together now, yeah, but it's different and I know that. So I guess they just try to be nice with me and everything, you know. But yes, I guess they're open-minded too." Hanna replied while sitting at her vanity to put her make-up on.

Caleb sighed, smoothing his shirt. He approached her and put his hands on her still bare shoulders, rubbing them softly.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—" he began, but she cut him off.

"No, it's okay. Don't worry."

Caleb sighed again, going onto his knees next to her and keeping one hand around her neck.

"Hey, I don't want you to think about bad things today, okay? It's Christmas, and we're spending it together, right?" he whispered gently, tracing soothing patterns on the back of her neck.

She slowly turned to him and gave him an half smile.

"Right." she repeated.

He nodded once before leaning in and gently pressing his lips on hers.

"Now, we're gonna have breakfast with your parents and then I'll give you your present... I left it in my car." he smiled then.

"Caleb, again, you didn't need to buy me anything." she smiled back.

"You invited me to spend Christmas Eve with your family and I shouldn't have bought you a present? You're ridicolous. It's not one of my shirts though, you already took all of my best ones."

She let out a genuine laugh at that.

"Except for this one." she added, fixing the collar of his shirt.

"Well, you chose it for me. Let me wear it for at least a month before stealing it."

Hanna smiled at Caleb as he stood back up. He looked like he was about to say something, but then his phone rang. He turned around and spotted it on the nightstand, so he went to grab it. Once he ha seen the ID, he sat on the bed and finally answered the call.

"Hey, mom."

At that, Hanna turned around and saw him smiling while on the phone, then proceeded to finish getting dressed as he kept speaking on the phone.

"Yeah, merry Christmas to you too. How are James and Clay doing?" he continued, running a hand through his hair.

Hanna observed him and could see how happy he was to hear his mother's voice. They hadn't talked much about his family, she only knew that his parents were divorced and that his mother got married again with another man, who was the father of her two young children, James and Clay, Caleb's stepbrothers.

"Don't worry, I'm actually spending these days with someone special, I'm not alone, I promise. I'm having a nice time. But I'll come there soon, alright?" Caleb said, glancing at Hanna.

She gave him a smile hearing those words.

"Sure. Love you too. Bye." he concluded, hanging up.

"Was it your mom?" Hanna asked as he stood up from the bed and slipped his phone into the pocket of his jeans.

"Yeah." he replied simply, approaching her.

"So... Am I the _someone special_ you mentioned?" she raised an eyebrow.

He furrowed his eyebrow, faking disorentation, before replying.

"No, of course not, why would it be you? I was obviously talking about your cousin Robert."

Hanna bit her lip to fight a laugh before throwing him a pillow she had close to her.

"Ass. But I saw you two had a lot to talk about last night, all hi-tech stuff... _boring_ stuff." she rolled her eyes.

He smirked as he offered his hand to her, which she accepted.

"Yeah, well, your cousin and I have a lot in common. But it wasn't my intention to make you feel neglected, so... Sorry about that." he shrugged, looping his arms around her waist.

"Well... Let's say that you kind of made it up about that last night." she grinned up at him.

"Yeah?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah."

Their lips were pulled together like magnets, but Hanna knew her parents were waiting for them downstairs and made sure not to keep it up for too long.

* * *

"Hanna, Caleb! Good morning!" Ashley Marin smiled as soon as the pair descended the stairs.

"Good morning, mrs Marin." Caleb smiled politely as Hanna mumbled an 'hi'.

"I'm sorry, Tom was called from work early this morning, he had to run off for an emergency." Ashley explained when Caleb looked around himself.

"On Christmas?" Hanna scoffed.

"Sweetie, you know how busy could be your dad with work, no matter what day it is." Ashley replied, pushing a plate with some bacon toward her and Caleb.

Hanna just rolled her eyes, taking some of the food for her as Caleb awkwardly smiled at Ashley. Hanna then put some bacon in Caleb's plate as well.

"So, Caleb, did you sleep good?" the red-headed asked him.

"Yeah, totally. Thank you again for the hospitality, mrs Marin." he replied with a smile.

"No problem. Whoever Hanna brings here is more than welcome." the woman continued.

"You make it sound like I could've brought a murderer and you wouldn't have minded." Hanna rolled her eyes again, shaking her head slightly.

"You know I didn't mean it like that." Ashley responded.

Hanna forced herself not to reply as she shoved some bacon in her mouth with her fork. Once again, Caleb made an awkward smile in Ashley's direction before starting to eat as well.

* * *

"We're _finally_ out." Hanna breathed as she and Caleb walked toward his car, after leaving the Marin household.

"Oh c'mon, you were too hard on your mom. I mean, your dad was the one who skipped breakfast, not her." Caleb replied, putting an arm around her shoulders while walking.

"Yeah, well, I had to unload my rage on someone."

"You could do that on me. You know, I have a couple of ideas in mind." Caleb smirked.

Hanna slapped his chest, biting her lower lip to fight a laugh as they finally reached his car.

"Well, well... I might have something for you in here." he mumbled, unlocking his car.

Hanna smiled as she watched him fumbling into the rear seats before he emerged with a bag in his hand.

"So... This is for you." he smiled, handing it to her.

She grinned at him before taking the bag from his hand. Then, she peeked inside and almost couldn't believe her eyes when she saw a shoe box. A Louboutin one.

"Caleb!" she gasped.

He just smiled at her, nodding toward the box, urging her to open it to see the shoes. She did so and widened her eyes. That's when he spoke.

"You couldn't stop looking at them when we went to the mall the other day. So I thought—"

"Caleb, these cost _way_ more than a plane ticket to Philadelphia. You could have gone home to your family or pay your apartment or college rent of this month with the money you spent on these shoes." Hanna cut him off.

"Look, I wanted to buy them for you. They were on sale anyways. And, just for the record, I would've bought them even if you didn't invite me to your parents' yesterday. I bought them just because I wanted to, okay? I just wanted to do something nice for you, I'm not trying to buy you with a pair of shoes or anything like that." he shrugged, honestly.

She bit her lip to fight a smile as she inspected the nude stilettos.

"They're awesome." she finally commented, letting the smile appear fully on her face.

"I'm glad you like them. You can leave them in my car if you want, so we can bring them to your apartment later." he smiled.

Hanna put the box back in the bag before throwing her arms around Caleb, hugging him the tightest she could.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you." she whispered into his ear.

He just pressed a kiss to her cheek in response, but in a matter of seconds she turned her head and her mouth opened against his lips.

"I haven't bought you anything, though." Hanna pouted when they pulled away.

"And you didn't have to. You invited me to spend Christmas Eve with you and your family, that's more than a material present to me. And, well, let's say that I got the best present ever last night..." he grinned, moving a strand of her hair behind her ear.

Hanna laughed and hugged him as he placed another kiss on the top of her head.

"So... I promised Aria I'd see her today. Do you mind coming with me?" she said, slowly pulling away from his embrace.

"Sure, no problem. Where do we need to go?"

"To her place."

"Oh..." Caleb pursed his lips and Hanna smiled slightly at him before replying.

"See? That's why you're cute. You get all anxious and everything when you need to step into someone's house for the first time. Chill up, okay? Aria knows you and likes you a lot. I mean, not as much as she likes Jason or Ezra, but still..."

Caleb laughed awkwardly, scratching his head.

"And not as much as _I_ like you." Hanna added, smiling up goofily at him.

He bit his lip and was about to grab her chin and restart kissing the living daylights out of her, but then she said something else, rolling her eyes slightly.

"Although her and the other girls at the bar are all about your ass."

Caleb's face became flushed as hell as his eyes widened istantly. Hanna laughed once again.

"See? Look how cute you are!" she exclaimed.

"Okay, you didn't have to tell me that." he rubbed his eyes.

"Well, I mean, I can't blame them."

That elicited another grin from Caleb, replacing the embarrassment.

* * *

After spending the afternoon at Aria's with all of her friends, Hanna and Caleb stopped by her apartment to say hi to Emily and to drop her brand new Loboutins before going back to his place to relax after their long day. They were sprawled on his couch, watching a movie.

"You know, it was nice today." Hanna said out of the blue.

"I know." Caleb grinned down at her.

"By the way, I'm sorry about my dad. I mean, the fact that he didn't show up this morning...without much of an explanation."

"It's fine, baby. I mean, I actually think that you're way more upset than me about that."

"You're right. I'm so pissed." Hanna sighed, leaning her head on his shoulder.

Caleb placed a kiss on top of her head and rubbed some circles on her shoulder with his thumb, in order to calm her down.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" he whispered then.

"I don't know. I'm sick and tired of this thing. You know, yesterday I felt so happy to have him there with my mom. For a moment, I almost forgot all of their history...the bad kind, I mean. And then what? He disappears, just the next morning. The day of Christmas. What should I think? Did he spend this day with another woman?"

Caleb sighed and looked down at her, only to find out that she was on the verge of tears, clearly upset. He pulled her closer and let her cry for a while before she calmed down.

"I'm a mess. This morning you said you didn't want me to think about bad things since it's Christmas, yet here I am. I'm sorry." she mumbled after a couple of minutes.

He chuckled, catching another of her tears with his thumb as he lifted her chin.

"Shut up. It's okay." he reassured her.

"What about you?" she breathed out then.

"What about me?" Caleb furrowed an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I mean... I saw your face while you were talking with your mom this morning. You seem pretty attached to her. But what about your dad? You never really mention him, and... I was with you the whole day, I don't think I noticed he called you. Am I wrong?"

Caleb licked his lips and then pursed them, nodding slowly.

"You're right, actually. I love my mom, but my dad... Well, that's another story." he said then.

"How come?"

He took a deep breath before replying.

"Well... I don't even remember my dad. He left me and my mom when I was very little, so... Yeah, I basically don't know him. He sent me a few postcards for some of my birthdays when I was a kid, but... Other than his name, I know basically nothing about him. That's it."

Hanna was totally caught off guard by that. She thought they weren't close or something like that, but not that he abandoned Caleb when he was a kid.

"Caleb, I'm so sorry..." she mumbled, reaching out to cup his cheek.

"It's okay." he cracked a small smile.

"No, it's not. I've been complaining all the time about my parents when you have such a story about your dad... My parents' issues are nothing compared to that. Forgive me."

Caleb raised his hand and put it on top of hers, still pressed against his cheek.

"You have nothing to apologize for. I'm okay, I swear." he whispered, stroking his thumb over the back of her hand.

She nodded briefly, pursing her lips.

"What's up?" he smiled up at her, who still had a weird look on her face.

She sighed, cuddling into his side before replying.

"Nothing, just... It's just that you're such a good person, and the story that's behind you only confirms that, and..."

"And?" Caleb raised an eyebrow, sensing that she was not going to continue.

"And I feel like I need someone like you in my life."

"Really?" he grinned down at her.

"Yeah, I mean... You've been doing really good with me. You know, you could have whatever girl you want with your ways, I really don't know why you're sticking with me and waiting for me."

"Well... I don't want any other girl, I want _you_. I feel like you're worth it, so I'm not gonna give up so easily."

Hanna grinned up at him before gripping the front of his shirt in order to lower his face toward her so that she could kiss him.

"So... Tell me again why you bought those shoes for me instead of taking a ticket to Philly." she said, pulling away.

"They were on sale, I swear. I thought it was a sign. I was kind of meant to take them for you." he shrugged innocently.

Hanna laughed slightly, hugging him before moving to his lap, straddling him.

"Do you wanna stay the night?" Caleb asked before pressing a kiss to the tip of her nose.

"Mmh... I have to think about it." she joked, looking up to the ceiling as she was considering it.

"We don't need to...you know... If you don't want to. I just... I'd like you to be the first person I see when I open my eyes tomorrow." he added, sincerely.

Hanna just smiled down at him before he continued.

"It's just great when you're the first person I see when I open my eyes, you know? Because you're already the first person I think about when I wake up in the morning. The first person that comes up to my mind when I listen to a song that I like. The first person I think about when my mom asks me if I'm enjoying LA. Right now, you're just the first person to me. So... I know that we still have to find out a lot of things about each other, but... When you feel the same way about me, let me know. We'll probably be ready to take the next step when we are each other's first person. I'll be waiting for that."

Hanna widened her smile at him once she heard those words.

"Well... How can I _not_ want to when you say those things?" she whispered, referring to his previous statement.

He smiled up at her as she cupped his cheeks and granted her mouth to him once again. His hands slipped into the back of her blouse and touched her skin, his fingers going randomly up and down her spine. She buried her hands into his hair as she slowly started rocking her hips back and forward over his lap, both still fully clothed. He groaned into her mouth as she kept moving herself and in a matter of seconds, she could already begin to feel him down there. He pulled away and glanced up at her.

"You like teasing, huh?" he mumbled, heavy-breathing.

She bit her bottom lip before kissing him again, and he moved his hands to the front of the blouse she chose to wear that morning, blindly undoing the buttons.

"Bedroom?" she asked pulling away, totally out of breath as well.

"Bedroom." he grinned before getting up and carrying her with him, holding on her thighs as she squealed.

* * *

 **A/N: I'm very sorry for the long wait! Truth is I'm going through a really tough period of my life, I swear I would've updated way sooner if I could. Life happens, though. Anyways, a couple of things about the chapter; it was really Haleb-focused because they're using these days that they're spending together to truly get to know each other, that's why there weren't many other characters...but I'm sure you guys didn't mind too much about that :) In the next one we'll see Caleb's friends again, though. Caleb's family history is different from the show as you may have noticed. Some of you were asking about his past, so there you go ;) He grew up with his mom after his father left them shortly after his birth. As for Hanna, her parents split up but now they're back together even though things between them are not exactly great. By the way, I'm very happy you enjoyed the last explosive chapter :) Thank you so much for your reviews. You never fail to put a smile on my face so keep it up! :) So now you all know why this story is called "The First Person"... Caleb is such a cutie, isn't he? :D Also, for Halebforever who asked about Samara... Yeah, there are high chances for her to re-appear in the future chapters. I can't tell you in which way she will, though :) I promise more drama coming up — and also a lot more about Hanna's past since some of you guys asked! But heyyyy my beautiful Haleb babies are back next week and that sneak peek of them in bed was literally everything! So excited to see them coming back :):) Again, thank you so much for the support! You guys are just amazing! Love you, I hope I can update soon! xx -Atramea.**


	18. Chapter 18

The following morning, once again, Caleb woke up with Hanna by his side. This time though, they were in his bed, in his apartment, and she was still fast asleep. She was curled up against his body, her hair was sprawled all across his naked chest, and their legs were tangled together under the warm messy sheets. Her arm was wrapped around his waist, her hand lazily hanging down his hipbone so that the tip of her fingers were slightly touching his thigh.

Caleb loved the feeling of their naked skins pressed together. And as the images of the previous night and the one before that came back to his mind, he could feel his morning arousal growing even more led by his thoughts. He sighed and carefully ran a hand through Hanna's messy hair before closing his eyes and trying to distract himself, maybe by falling back asleep.

A moment later though, Hanna let out an half yawn and stretched herself against his side, making their skins brush together, and Caleb realized that he couldn't do much else about it by then, opening his eyes to look down at her.

"Hi." she mumbled in an absolutely adorable morning voice, smiling slightly.

"Hey, you." he smiled back, caressing her hair once more.

They locked eyes for a moment before Caleb was about to ask her if she wanted breakfast or something, but he couldn't because Hanna had already pressed her lips against his. He instinctively fluttered his eyes shut as she deepened the kiss and ran a hand up his chest, brushing her fingers against his collarbone and neck before cupping the side of his face. She pushed her tongue further inside his mouth, finding his own tongue, and Caleb gulped slightly, cupping her cheeks as well as he felt her body moving under the sheets until she was completely hovering him. Their lips separated for a moment, giving Hanna time to readjust herself on top of his body and shoot him a grin.

"That's the proper morning after you couldn't get yesterday." she explained quickly, balancing herself by putting her palms against his bare chest.

Caleb smirked and shook her head at her, moving his hands up her hips to brush against the outer side of her breasts.

"Well, I'm not complaining." he commented, his voice husky, stained with arousal.

She bit her bottom lip as she grinded her hips against him, making him groan. He took his time to take in her unreal beauty, brushing his thumbs softly against her nipples and watch her eyes fall closed at the feeling. Then, his hands moved to her bare back, his fingers skimming over her incredibly smooth skin, eventually reaching the cascade of blonde hair that was covering half of it.

"You're so beautiful, Hanna..." he murmured, looking straight into her orbs.

She made him a little smile before bending down to kiss him, touching his tongue with hers just once before pulling back, only to move her mouth south, kissing his jaw, his Adam apple and then working a little longer on his neck. Caleb closed a soft fist into her hair, following the movements of her head when it kept going down, to his chest, where her lips drew a few more kisses before he felt her shift her position on top of him, moving his length to her entrance with a hand at the same time. He sucked in a sharp breath as she let him in just a little before pulling him out. She took his member into her hand once again, pumping him twice before repeating what she had done a second earlier, but once again, she pulled him out too soon for his liking.

"How long will this torture last?" he groaned, moving his hands back on her hips, gently brushing his thumbs against her flat belly.

She smirked at him, pulling her hair back from her face with her free hand before replying.

"I have to think about it."

Caleb couldn't help but chuckle, but for some reason, he decided to play along with her. He could've easily thrust himself in, or even rolled her over to gain the full control of the situation, but the truth was that he loved the fact that she had power right now.

"Well, I feel ready, for what it matters." he commented, lazily smiling up at her.

"Yeah, I can feel that." she replied, stroking his shaft once again.

He bit his bottom lip before framing her face with his hands and pulling her toward him. She bent down and granted her mouth to him, while finally allowing him full access into her body. Their kiss was muffled with groans as she began moving, her thighs hugging his hips as his hands disappeared into her hair. They went on for a minute or so, their lips attached to each other's as their hips tried to find some synchrony. Caleb though, at some point had to pull away and, after taking a breath, he managed to murmur something.

"Hanna, baby... I-I really need you to slow down a little."

Hanna met his gaze and gave him a nod before reattaching her lips to his, as if she couldn't do differently. Her movements completely ceased for a moment before she began moving again, this time with a slower pace. Still kissing him, she felt his hands travel down her back until they reached her ass, where he gave an approval squeeze as to tell her that now it was perfect.

"Just like that." he confirmed, pulling away from the kiss.

She nodded again and then sat up slightly, steading herself by putting her hands on his shoulders as he sat up as well. Hanna seemed to appreciate that move, because she threw her head back in pleasure and arched her back, exposing her bare chest to him even more. At that, Caleb couldn't help but cup one of her breasts in his hand and take her nipple into his mouth, sucking and licking it while his other hand kept pushing her ass against him, pulling her even closer. A moan escaped from Hanna's lips, feeling the pleasure increase thanks to his ministrations, and she absent-mindedly sped up the pace again, quickly lifting and then lowering herself around him as he focused on her other breast until both of her nipples were hard for him.

Caleb then, pulled away from her chest and took a moment to admire her; her eyes closed, her lips parted and her face flushed. He felt the pressure inside himself rapidly increasing at the view, so he gripped her hips trying to get some control.

"You sure I can—" he asked in a mumble, breathless, but she got the message and cut him off before he could even complete his question, only opening her eyes and moving her head in a simple nod, too carried away by the pleasure of the moment to arrange a proper answer.

The grip of her thighs around his hips tightened as their movements gradually became sloppy and faster and then eventually fell out of synchrony. He felt her walls start clenching around him and knew she was about to fall over the edge, so he pulled all his strength together to push himself up a little harder a couple of times to satisfy her needs. He seemed to succeed when she buried her fingernails into the flesh of his shoulders and a strangled moan fell from her already parted lips. Caleb now could definitely feel a rhythmical pulsation around his member, and a couple of seconds later he felt himself right about to let go as well.

"Han, still." he groaned, roughly lowering her hips around himself so that he was all the way in.

Hanna accomplished and stopped moving, feeling Caleb's member throbbing and then spilling inside her. He held her body tight for a moment, letting out a long grunt, still being able to feel her pulsations around him as he unloaded himself. Then, he couldn't help but fall on his back, hitting the mattress as Hanna restarted moving herself slightly in order to pleasure him as long as she could. He squeezed his eyes shut as his legs shook and the rest of his muscles kept spasming involuntarily, breathing heavily as he let go of her hips, having no strength left. Hanna bent down and covered his body with hers, placing the side of her face on the pillow, next to his head. She left a series of kisses on his cheek while waiting for his body to stop jerking against his will, watching as his eyes stayed closed and his eyebrows stayed furrowed in a way that she found absolutely cute. Their breathings slowly regained a normal rhythm, and after a minute even Caleb's body seemed to finally still. Hanna squeezed his length with her inner muscles one last time before pulling him out and rolling herself off him, going to lie on her side, next to him, and burying her head into her neck as she breathed out a content sigh. He moved a hand to her hair, still with his eyes closed, moving some loose strands off her forehead before placing a kiss there.

"You look cute when you come." she whispered to him, placing her hand on his chest.

"Please don't say that." he chuckled, embarrassed.

She grinned against his skin, stroking his chest.

"You look hot when you come, though." he mumbled then, never opening his eyes.

She let out a small laugh, cuddling closer into his side as his arm embraced her shoulders. A few quiet minutes later, Hanna sat up and stretched her arms over her head before standing up from the bed.

"I need a shower. Can I?" she asked Caleb.

He opened her eyes and smiled at her, her figure now lightened by the sun filtering from the window of his bedroom.

"No need to ask." he replied then.

Hanna shot him a grin and then started walking toward the bathroom, leaving Caleb to sigh at himself.

* * *

After showering and then having breakfast together, Hanna told Caleb she had to go see some of her friends, so she left. Caleb took advantage of that to tidy his apartment, trying not to think about the fact that he already missed her after spending the past two days with her. At some point, though, the doorbell rang, so he went to open the door only dressed in his sweatpants to find his friend Luke.

"Hey, man." Caleb smiled at him, making him some room to step in.

Luke got in and patted his back as he walked past him.

"How are you doing, dude? I feel like I haven't seen you in forever." Luke said then, plopping down on Caleb's couch.

"Cool. What about you? How did Christmas go?" Caleb asked back, taking a seat next to him.

"I went to Remy's parents. I haven't eaten so much in years, I think. So what did you do, instead?"

"Ah, nothing much, you know. Just... I've spent some time with Hanna."

Luke raised his eyebrows at that, now looking like he had noticed something he hadn't seen until that moment.

"Wait a minute... What happened to your shoulders, man?" he asked.

Caleb furrowed his eyebrows as he craned his neck a little to inspect his bare torso. It was then that he noticed the clear sign of scratching on both of his shoulders. When he looked up again, Luke was smirking at him.

"So? You 'just slept' again and she accidentally scratched you in her sleep?" he joked then, wiggling his eyebrows.

Caleb couldn't stop the small grin appearing on his lips as he tried to reply.

"I—"

"Finally, dude! I knew it!" Luke cut him off, shoving him lightly.

Caleb rolled his eyes at his bestfriend's behavior, but somehow he was still smiling.

"So? How was it?" Luke asked excitedly.

Caleb bit his lip, running a hand through his hair. He wasn't the kind of guy to go around and boast about his bed buddies, but Luke was like family to him and he wanted to share his excitement with him.

"Uh... Which one of the three times?" he asked back then, grinning.

Luke widened his eyes at him before punching his shoulder lightly.

"Way to go, man! I shouldn't be saying this, but that girl is definitely hot." he commented then, relaxing against the back of the couch.

"It's not just that, you know? She's simply amazing." Caleb smiled.

"Yeah, well, you look happy. So, tell me... Are you planning on making this serious?"

"I'd like to. But she's still really uncertain about that."

"I see. Well, you seem well under way, though."

Caleb chuckled, shaking his head.

"Anyway, Luke... I'd really appreciate if this stays between us, at least until things between me and Hanna don't evolve in something more serious. You know, if you tell Remy, Miranda would know in a heartbeat, and I... I just don't want her to. So... You know, just... Try not to slip up, okay?" he added.

Luke smiled, nodding at him before replying.

"Okay. I know that this is something that has to stay between brothers. But you still need to tell me how it was...I mean, how _they_ were."

Caleb smirked and relaxed against the back of the couch as well, memories of a naked Hanna on top of him flooding his mind.

"She's a dream. That's all I can say." he sighed then.

* * *

"Hey there." Hanna grinned as she walked in a bar to meet Emily, Aria and Spencer.

"Always the last one." Spencer huffed as Hanna took a seat at the booth with them.

The blonde just rolled her eyes at her.

"We already ordered. An iced latte for you, right?" Emily asked Hanna, who nodded.

"So... What have you been up to these days? Emily said you were spending Christmas Eve with your parents, but seems like you didn't show up home since that morning." Aria asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Yeah, except for two seconds yesterday when you came by to drop some shoes. And we live together." Emily added.

"More like you and Ben live together and I'm the third wheel." Hanna snorted.

"You still haven't answered. We're curious." Spencer raised her eyebrows as a barista placed their coffees on the table.

Hanna sighed in defiance as she took her latte before replying.

"I was with Caleb, as if you didn't know."

"Yeah, well, we kind of knew. You probably forgot with all the things you had to do with Caleb, but you came to my house with him just yesterday." Aria smirked.

"Then why asking?" Hanna shrugged, taking a sip from her cup.

"You're right. The real question is... What did you guys do all this time together?" Spencer raised her eyebrows suggestively.

"Shit, this latte sucks. Ours is way better." Hanna moaned in disgust, placing her cup back on the table.

When she lifted her gaze, though, all of her friends were staring at her waiting for an answer. She rolled her eyes at them before speaking.

"So what? This meeting was just an excuse to get to know if Caleb's cock is as nice as his butt?"

"Well, is it?" Aria insisted.

Hanna couldn't help but smirk, biting her lip as she leaned forward over the table.

"It's... Kind of better." she said then, grinning.

The whole group erupted in squeals and hand-clapping as Hanna laughed.

"It was about time, Han!" Aria commented.

"Yeah, poor guy. He had a lot of patience." Spencer added.

"So how was it?" Emily smirked toward the blonde.

"Just...hot. Honestly, it was absolutely worth the wait. And this morning he let me be on top for the whole thing, so—" Hanna began ranting before Aria widened her eyes at her.

"Wait a minute... This morning? You mean you had sex a few hours ago?" Aria whispered then.

"I thought you'd had some sex glow when you walked in here, actually." Spencer smirked.

"Yeah. A few hours ago _and_ last night _and_ the night before." Hanna shrugged with a small smile tugging at her lips, ignoring Spencer's comment.

"You guys are making up for the lost time, aren't you?" Emily laughed.

"So what happened to the 'I don't wanna hurt his feeling so no sex' thing?" Aria asked again, intigued.

Hanna sighed and took a moment before answering.

"I'm still afraid of that. I mean, he knows I don't wanna make anything serious for now, but he kind of got that I wasn't going to change my mind about it anytime soon, so... He decided to take a step forward even though we're not serious, which is new to him. And you know he told me he wanted to make love to me at the lakehouse, and... What can I say? I'm afraid of all the consequences, but... I did want to make love to him too, I can't lie. I really like him, yeah. So it just...happened, you know. And honestly, I'm really happy it did."

"Han, Caleb really deserves a chance. He's a sugar." Aria smiled at her.

"I know. That's why I told him I'd see how things go between us, and then... Who knows?" Hanna replied.

"Well, you have our approval. Marco and I would totally love to go on a double date with the two of you." Spencer said.

"Yeah, Caleb is definitely approved." Aria confirmed, nodding as Emily did the same next to her.

"Okay, okay, whatever." Hanna rolled her eyes at her friends' excitement about a possible relationship for her after years.

"So, Emily mentioned some shoes... Were they from Caleb?" Spencer asked.

Hanna sighed before replying.

"Yeah. He bought me a pair of freaking Loboutins. A few days ago he came shopping with me, and he understood I loved those shoes, but I hadn't bought them that day, and then... On Christmas, he gave me this bag and they were inside. He knew my shoe size, he remembered it. I tried a pair on that day, so I guess he was paying attention. He's pretty sweet, isn't he?"

"Sounds like he is. So he's hot, sweet, good in bed... You know, if you decide to let him go, I may be interested." Aria joked.

"He's off limits. And you already have too many guys to think about." Hanna argued.

"So what about Jordan?" Emily raised an eyebrow at her roommate.

"I'm actually going to his place later. He's throwing some party." Hanna replied nonchalantly.

"Does Caleb know that?" Aria inquired.

"Why would he? That's exactly the point of not being in a relationship. I'm free to go wherever I want and do whatever I want without asking for permission to anybody, and so is he. Besides, Jordan is just a friend to me. I'm not interested in him in _that_ sense. I'm going to the party because Mona will be there too, along with my other friends. Jordan is part of my circle of friends, I'm seeing him often because of that, not because I'm going to sleep with him. I won't do that, okay? I'm pretty fine with being only intimate with Caleb right now. The fact that we're not in a relationship doesn't mean that I'm going to sleep with other guys in the meantime. I just need my space, that's it." Hanna explained.

* * *

 **A/N: Hi guys :) So, first of all, I just wanted to thank you all for all the love you sent me. Seriously, I really appreciated it, every single word. Thank you so much, each one of you :) Speaking about the story, I thought you'd appreciate some smut to start with ;) I don't know if you noticed it, but I switched the story rating from T to M because... Yeah haha ;) I hope you enjoyed seeing Caleb and Hanna talking with their respective friends about what's happening between them. There's gonna be a New Year's Eve party very soon, so get ready for it ;) What else? Thank you very much for the reviews, as always. I'm glad you enjoyed last chapter too, I hope this one is as good as it :) Let me know what you guys think, of course! Love you all, you're amazing! xx -Atramea.**


	19. Chapter 19

Caleb hadn't heard from Hanna for the whole day, after she left his apartment that morning. He wasn't mad or anything like that, but he was really holding himself back from the idea of calling or texting her. He wanted her to have her space and he knew how much she cared about it.

But as he was smoking a cigarette from the window of his apartment at eleven-thirty in the evening, he couldn't help but smile widely when he spotted Hanna's car stopping in front of his building. He couldn't be sure it was her, it wasn't like she was the only one with that car in LA, but when the car parked two spots after his one, his smile widened even more.

"Hey, stranger!" he exclaimed when she got out of the car and he finally spotted her blonde mane.

Hanna was caught off guard since she hadn't noticed Caleb at the window until then, but when she raised her head and saw him, she reciprocated his smile as widely.

"Hey there! Let me in, please?" she exclaimed back.

He grinned in response, putting out his cigarette on his ashtray before getting inside to open the front door of the building for Hanna. Then, he opened the door of his apartment and waited until she showed up, all smiley.

"So, what brings you here at this time?" Caleb asked, still smiling as he leant by the doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest.

Hanna approached him shrugging until she was in front of him.

"Just thought I could stop by in case you were missing me." she replied casually.

He chuckled and raised an eyebrow at her. She opened her arms questioningly, raising an eyebrow as well.

"Will you let me in or what?" she asked, as Caleb laughed and made her some room to step in.

Then, he closed the door behind his back and looked back at her. She was smiling at him. He took a step toward her and closed the distance between them, cupping her face into his hands and leaning down to press his lips against hers once, then twice, chastely. His hands came to rest at her sides as he looked down at her.

"Is everything okay?" he asked tenderly as she tied her arms behind his neck and pressed her forehead against his.

"Yeah. I just wanted to see you." she replied then.

"Yeah? How was your day?"

"Fine, I guess. I went to a party, at Jordan's."

He raised an eyebrow at that.

"Caleb, you know he's just—" she tried to say, but he smiled before cutting her off.

"Hey, shhh... I know. I'm not mad or anything, I'm just surprised you told me you were with him. I mean, you didn't have to."

Hanna sighed before replying.

"I wasn't with him, I was at his place with him _and_ a bunch of other people."

"Okay, that's fine. I'm glad you're here now, anyway."

That elicited another genuine smile from Hanna's lips, followed by a pout which touched his lips for the third time in a few seconds.

"So... There's another party at his place, on New Year's Eve. I was just wondering, you know, if you wanted to come with me." she continued, eventually looking down.

Caleb furrowed an eyebrow before stepping back, taking her hand in his and leading her to sit on the couch with him.

"You want me to come with you at Jordan's?" he asked quietly.

"Don't think about Jordan. I just want you to come with me."

He smiled at her.

"Trust me, I'd love to be with you on New Year's Eve, but... I already got plans with Luke." he explained then.

"So that's Luke, Remy and Miranda, of course." Hanna rolled her eyes slightly.

And Caleb, deep down, was really happy to see some jealousy from her.

"And a bunch of other people." he quoted her, smirking.

She chuckled, getting his point.

"Okay, I understand. Don't worry." she added.

Caleb, though, shook his head and took her hand again before saying something.

"No, look, you could come with me, instead. Luke likes you, I swear."

"Well, Miranda obviously doesn't."

Caleb sighed, rubbing her knuckles.

"Okay, that may be true, but... You know, I wanted to ask you to come with me before you came here to invite me as well. You met my friends after all, and—" he started before she stopped him.

"Yeah, and I was half-naked when I did."

"Okay, Han... I get it. I don't feel like coming to Jordan's and you don't feel like coming to Luke's party, both for obvious reasons." Caleb concluded, shrugging.

"I guess you're right. It was a dumb thought, I know."

"That's not what I said. It wasn't dumb at all."

Hanna sighed, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"Whatever. I guess we can just be together right now instead of New Year's Eve. After all, we already spent Christmas together." she murmured.

Caleb wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close.

"We did, and that's why it would've been nice to spend New Year's Eve together as well." he commented casually, dropping a kiss to her head.

"How was your day?" Hanna addressed him the same question he had asked her.

"Fine, I guess. You know, I managed to study a little after you left."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Luke came over and... You know, before studying we talked a little about you, actually."

Hanna lifted her head from his shoulder and raised her eyebrows suggestively.

"And what was the talk about?"she smiled then, intrigued.

Caleb reciprocated her smile, moving a strand of her hair off her forehead before answering.

"Well... You know, he knows I'm pretty crazy about you, I just told him that...things are going _well_ , and..."

"You told him we... _you know_?"

Caleb paused for a second, trying to find the right words.

"Han, he's like a brother to me, I—" he started then, but she cut him off, smiling reassuringly.

"It's okay, don't worry. I told the girls too. They actually looked pretty keen about it."

Caleb smiled, trying to imagine the girls' reaction.

"You know, it's not like it has to be a secret, I just think that since we still don't know what it is, we don't really have to make it public, but... These are our friends, so I guess they don't count." Hanna continued, cuddling back into his side and placing a hand on his chest.

Caleb nodded shortly, trying to just enjoy their closeness.

"So you meant what you said?" she asked after a moment.

"What?" he asked back, a little lost.

"That you're pretty crazy about me."

He smiled, searching for her eyes.

"I'm _totally_ crazy about you, Hanna Marin." he corrected the statement.

She smiled as he came closer and kissed her, encouraging her lips open to get a taste of her. Hanna granted him access, leaning back on the couch as he hovered her, while they ended up in a lying position. After making out for a couple of minutes, Caleb pulled away, nudging her nose with his.

"You want to sleep over?" he asked quietly, stealing another chaste kiss from her lips.

Hanna bit her bottom lip, burying her fingers through his hair before replying.

"I'd better not. I mean, Emily's having some major crisis because of some fight she had with Ben, so... I just thought to stop by and say hi to you before going back home to her."

Caleb smiled.

"So you really wanted to come here first." he thought out loud, raising an eyebrow at her.

She rolled her eyes jokingly, shrugging slightly.

"Maybe." she finally conceded, looking back at him.

He smirked, satisfied with her admission.

"I guess that's a good start." he murmured before reconnecting their lips.

* * *

New Year's Eve didn't take long to come.

Hanna entered Jordan's house wearing a stunning red dress, Emily following closely behind wearing a black leather top with black leggings. She definitely wasn't in a good mood since she seemed to have broken up with Ben for good, but Hanna had dragged her to the party hoping it would help her take her mind off that.

"Remind me again why I came here." Emily growled, looking around herself only to find strangers.

"Cause it's New Year's Eve and it needs to be celebrated, and spending it home alone crying over a jerk it's definitely not an option." Hanna replied, spotting Mona around the corner.

"Hey, Han!" Mona called, waving a hand at her.

The two exchanged a quick hug before Mona's eyes diverted to Emily.

"What's up, Em? You look sad." Mona asked.

"Yeah, about that, you need to introduce her to some guys tonight. Please." Hanna replied for her before Emily could even get a chance.

Emily rolled her eyes as Jordan appeared behind Mona.

"Hey there, girls." he grinned, his eyes focusing on Hanna. "Wow, honey, you look gorgeous." he said then to the blonde.

"Thanks." Hanna replied simply, shooting him a smile.

"C'mon, follow me, I'll show you where the drinks are." Jordan offered then.

* * *

"Caleb, come to dance!" Remy squealed, one arm looped around Luke's neck and the other holding a drink.

"I'm cool, thanks." Caleb half-laughed, sat on a stool with a beer in his hand.

Luke and Remy were already over the tipsy stage and it was only half past ten. They were spending New Year's Eve at some pub since the owner was some relative of Remy's. He was currently chatting with Samara, who had come to LA to celebrate with her friends.

"So tell me about that girl..." Samara said casually, taking a sip of her own beer.

"What girl?" Caleb furrowed an eyebrow, playing dumb.

"The girl that's on your mind basically ever since you moved here. I know you better than you think, Caleb."

Caleb sighed, placing his beer on the counter before looking back at her.

"Fine. Her name is Hanna, she works with me at The Brew. But... You know, she's not into anything serious, at the moment." he admitted.

"And you're okay with that? I mean, you're not the type."

Caleb tilted his head from side to side before replying.

"Yes and no. I wish she could just be mine, you know? But she doesn't feel ready to commit, so... Well, I'm currently trying to make her come around."

"And how is that?" Samara raised her eyebrow suggestively.

Caleb smirked before biting his bottom lip.

"I don't think you wanna know _all_ of that." he added, chuckling.

"You've totally answered my question." she laughed.

Caleb laughed along with her before returning serious.

"It's weird." he said.

"What?"

"It's weird that it's _not_ weird. I mean, talking about such things with you."

Samara smiled.

"I care about you, Caleb. We didn't work as a couple, but we've always been friends and it looks like we're two _really good_ friends. And I want us to keep that up." she confessed.

"I agree." Caleb nodded, smiling as well.

"So, as a friend I have to ask you... What about Miranda? She hasn't taken her eyes off you for a second, tonight."

He sighed, eyeing Miranda for a split second before replying to Samara's question.

"Still not happening. I mean, she's my friend and I care about her, a lot, but that's it. And this has nothing to do with Hanna. I'm sorry for her, but she knows how I see things."

* * *

"Hey." Jordan smiled as he approached Hanna.

"Hey." Hanna replied simply.

"I was looking for you, I couldn't spot you back there."

"Well, I was just taking a break from all that thumping music." Hanna rolled her eyes slightly, quickly checking up her phone.

Jordan laughed, joining her at the small couch she was sat on, in the hallway of his house.

"I'm pretty sure I saw Emily making out with someone." he said, trying to make conversation.

"Yeah? So Mona managed to find her a guy?"

"Well, actually… Emily was making out with a girl."

Hanna widened her eyes at him.

"How much did you drink?" she asked then.

Jordan laughed again, leaning back on the couch.

"A bit, yeah, but I know what I saw, plus I'm sure Emily drank _way_ more than me." he added.

Hanna rolled her eyes before replying.

"Whatever. As long as she stops crying over Ben."

"How much did _you_ drink?" Jordan asked, moving closer to her.

"Why?"

"I don't know, your eyes are kind of glistening, but... Maybe this isn't about alcohol."

And all of a sudden, Jordan put his lips over hers, joining them in a kiss for the first time. Hanna was caught off guard, but she didn't move of an inch. She stilled, feeling Jordan's mouth open and against hers with delicacy, as if he was afraid of her reaction, but that didn't seem to come. He didn't quite understand her total lack of response to his kiss — no reject, but definitely no kissing back either. Her eyes opened — she hadn't even realized that she had closed them. She saw Jordan all caught up and focused on the moment, but she didn't feel basically anything. Jordan was still confused, so he moved a hand to wrap around the back of her neck, trying to involve her, trying to urge her to give him some response, but it didn't work. That was the moment he gave up, slowly pulling back from her, licking his lips while looking up at her questioningly.

"Are you okay?" he whispered, his thumb running over the back of her neck.

Hanna cleared her throat, shaking her head lightly.

"Yeah, uhm, sorry. I'm fine." she replied quietly.

Jordan studied her features for a moment before leaning forward to kiss her again, but this time his lips were intercepted by two of her fingers, which stopped him.

"Jordan… I'm sorry, I don't really want… _this_." she apologized, awkwardly smiling at him before standing up and disappearing back into his living room.

* * *

 **A/N: You thought I disappeared? You thought right :D All kidding aside, I had to deal with a problem with my eye that still isn't totally solved, so I couldn't spend much time writing on my pc and so I took kind of a break these last couple of months. But my intention is obviously to keep going with this fic, so I apologize for the very long wait but seriously, I really couldn't update. Also, I know you're probably going to hate me for what happened at the end of the chapter, I mean, I come back after all this time and** _ **that**_ **happens? Haha, no worries, it could be even a positive thing that helps Hanna understand her true feelings at the moment :)** **I promise you won't wait other two months to read next chapter since I started writing it already, also I'm pretty sure you're gonna like it :D I apologize again and I hope you all appreciated the update even though some of you had to read the previous chapter to remember where we left off ;) Have a nice week, love you! xx -Atramea.**


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